.NET Framework Cleanup Tool User’s Guide

This .NET Framework cleanup tool is designed to automatically perform a set of steps to remove selected versions of the .NET Framework from a computer. It will remove files, directories, registry keys and values and Windows Installer product registration information for the .NET Framework. The tool is intended primarily to return your system to a known (relatively clean) state in case you are encountering .NET Framework installation, uninstallation, repair or patching errors so that you can try to install again.

There are a couple of very important caveats that you should review before using this tool to remove any version of the .NET Framework from your system:

This tool is designed as a last resort for cases where install, uninstall, repair or patch installation did not succeed for unusual reasons. It is not a substitute for the standard uninstall procedure. You should try the .NET Framework Repair Tool and then try the steps listed in this blog post before using this cleanup tool.

This cleanup tool will delete shared files and registry keys used by other versions of the .NET Framework. If you run the cleanup tool, you will need to perform a repair/re-install for all other versions of the .NET Framework that are on your computer or they will not work correctly afterwards.

The .zip file that contains the tool also contains a file named history.txt that lists when the most recent version of the tool was published and what changes have been made to the tool over time.

Supported products

The .NET Framework cleanup tool supports removing the following products:

.NET Framework - All Versions

.NET Framework - All Versions (Tablet PC and Media Center)

.NET Framework - All Versions (Windows Server 2003)

.NET Framework - All Versions (Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008)

.NET Framework - All Versions (Windows 7)

.NET Framework 1.0

.NET Framework 1.1

.NET Framework 2.0

.NET Framework 3.0

.NET Framework 3.5

.NET Framework 4

.NET Framework 4.5

.NET Framework 4.5.1

.NET Framework 4.5.2

.NET Framework 4.6

.NET Framework 4.6.1

.NET Framework 4.6.2

.NET Framework 4.7

.NET Framework 4.7.1

.NET Framework 4.7.2

Not all of the above products will appear in the UI for the .NET Framework cleanup tool on every operating system. The cleanup tool contains logic so that if it is run on an OS version that includes the .NET Framework as an OS component, it will not offer the option to clean it up. This means that running the cleanup tool on Windows XP Media Center Edition or Tablet PC Edition will not offer the option to clean up the .NET Framework 1.0, running it on Windows Server 2003 will not offer the option to clean up the .NET Framework 1.1 and running it on Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 will not offer the option to clean up the .NET Framework 2.0 or the .NET Framework 3.0.

When choosing to remove any of the above versions of the .NET Framework, the cleanup tool will also remove any associated hotfixes and service packs. You do not need to run any separate steps to remove the service pack(s) for a version of the .NET Framework.

Silent installation mode

The .NET Framework cleanup tool supports running in silent mode. In this mode, the tool will run without showing any UI, and the user must pass in a version of the .NET Framework to remove as a command line parameter. To run the cleanup tool in silent mode, you need to download the cleanup tool, extract the file cleanup_tool.exe from the zip file, and then run it using syntax like the following:

cleanup_tool.exe /q:a /c:"cleanup.exe /p <name of product to remove>"

The value that you pass with the /p switch to replace <name of product to remove> in this example must exactly match one of the products listed in the Supported products section above. For example, if you would like to run the cleanup tool in silent mode and remove the .NET Framework 1.1, you would use a command line like the following:

cleanup_tool.exe /q:a /c:"cleanup.exe /p .NET Framework 1.1"

One important note – as indicated above, the cleanup tool will not allow you to remove a version of the .NET Framework that is installed as part of the OS it is running on. That means that even if you try this example command line on Windows Server 2003, the tool will exit with a failure return code and not allow you to remove the .NET Framework 1.1 because it is a part of that OS.

Similarly, you cannot use the cleanup tool to remove the .NET Framework 1.0 from Windows XP Media Center Edition or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition or remove the .NET Framework 2.0 or 3.0 from Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. In addition, if you run the cleanup tool on an OS that has any edition of the .NET Framework installed as a part of the OS, it will prevent you from using the .NET Framework - All Versions option because there is at least one version that it cannot remove.

If you are planning to run the cleanup tool in silent mode, you need to make sure to detect what OS it is running on and not pass in a version of the .NET Framework with the /p switch that is a part of the OS or make sure that you know how to handle the failure exit code that you will get back from the cleanup tool in that type of scenario.

Unattended installation mode

The .NET Framework cleanup tool supports running in silent mode. In this mode, the tool will run and only show a progress dialog during removal, but will require no user interaction. Unattended mode requires the user to pass in a version of the .NET Framework to remove as a command line parameter. To run the cleanup tool in unattended mode, you need to download the cleanup tool, extract the file cleanup_tool.exe from the zip file, and then run it using syntax like the following:

For example, if you would like to run the cleanup tool in unattended mode and remove the .NET Framework 1.1, you would use a command line like the following:

cleanup_tool.exe /q:a /c:"cleanup.exe /p .NET Framework 1.1 /u"

Exit codes

The cleanup tool can returns the following exit codes:

0 - cleanup completed successfully for the specified product

3010 - cleanup completed successfully for the specified product and a reboot is required to complete the cleanup process

1 - cleanup tool requires administrative privileges on the machine

2 - the required file cleanup.ini was not found in the same path as cleanup.exe

3 - a product name was passed in that cannot be removed because it is a part of the OS on the system that the cleanup tool is running on

4 - a product name was passed in that does not exist in cleanup.ini

100 - cleanup was able to start but failed during the cleanup process

1602 - cleanup was cancelled

Log files

The cleanup tool creates the following log files:

%temp%\cleanup_main.log - a log of all activity during each run of the cleanup tool; this is a superset of the logs listed below as well as some additional information

%temp%\cleanup_actions.log - a log of actions taken during removal of each product; it will list files that it finds and removes, product codes it tries to remove, registry entries it tries to remove, etc.

%temp%\cleanup_errors.log - a log of errors and warnings encountered during each run of the cleanup tool

.NET Framework download locations

If you plan to re-install the .NET Framework after running the cleanup tool, you can download the various versions
of the .NET Framework from the following locations:

I am running the most recent version of Windows 10 (updated after discovering this “.net Framework” problem. Why am I having this problem trying to install TurboTax? I don’t want to do something that harms or destroys my computer functionality. Control Panel states that I am running .net Framework 3.5 (including 2.0 and 3.0) and .net Framework 4.7 Advanced Services. Is this a normal problem?

Hi John Herring – If you haven’t yet, please try to install the .NET Framework 4.6.2 from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53344. Also, I’ve heard from a few other customers that they’ve had success on Windows 10 by right clicking on the TurboTax installer and choosing to run it as an administrator.

Hi Coukou – The download link is working fine for me, so I’m not sure why you’re only able to download a partial copy of this file. I’ve also uploaded it to a secondary location in case this will help for you. You can find the tool at one of the following locations:

I was wondering if there would be any issues if we wanted to host the Cleanup and Verifier tool on our own site for our customers. We deployed a .net 2.0 application and lately several have been having issues getting them to run. (Much hate for the corrupt 2.0 framework installs.)

Hi Jacob.Hoover – I don’t see any major issues with you doing that assuming that you’ve read and agree to the license agreement that is included with each of these tools. The one caveat I want to mention is that I update the tools on my file servers when I make bug fixes and feature enhancements, so if you take copies of these tools and host them elsewhere, they may get out of sync with the latest version. You may want to periodically check for updates on my blogs and refresh the copies of the files that you’re hosting.

Hi Xeonz – I’m sorry for the hassles that this issue is causing for you. You can right-click on the folder you are getting access denied for, choose the Security tab, and grant your user account full control so that you can delete this folder. This issue will be corrected in a future release of the .NET Framework.

I am also getting "Access is Denied" errors when running the cleanup tool under Vista Enterprise x64. I somehow got into a state where the .NET framework is not in the "programs and features" uninstall panel, however neither installing .NET framework through Windows Update nor through microsoft’s executable works.

Its very frustrating to be getting these "access is denied" errors when running the cleanup tool as an administrator. I even booted into safe mode, but still get "access is denied."

I see you suggest changing permissions on folders, but one of the folders that I am getting an error on is C:WindowsSystem32, and though I am no windows expert, I think its a bad idea to change permissions on that folder.

It would be nice to see a version of the cleanup tool that fixes the "access is denied" errors sooner rather than later. Thanks for all your work on this tool.

I just spend all the morning trying to fix a "setup cannot conitue because this version of the .net framework is incompatible with a previously installed one" for .net framework 2.0 on a windows xp pro tablet Pc edidtion

and nothing works until I found you’re tool, I’ve was about to re image the laptop, so thanks a lot!

Hi Dogshu – The cleanup tool does not attempt to make any changes to file system or registry permissions. It works correctly on all versions of Windows (including Vista) that have the default permissions for the system32 directory that are set during Windows setup. I’m not sure how the permissions got changed on your system, but they sound like they are too restrictive to allow your user account to make any changes to system32 even if you’re running elevated. I’d normally suggest manually updating the permissions to make sure that the Administrators group and the local system account have full control over that directory, but if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, you may want to repair/re-install Windows in order to restore the default permissions.

YEESSS! Aaron… You da man!!! I’ve been trying to either update or remove my .NET Framework installation (without success) for a couple of months now (inadvertently did a system restore on the wrong computer). Was getting ready to reformat then re-install XP when I found your Cleanup Tool! It rocks…

I have a problem with my .net framework.I have a share point server which has direct internet access.ON dec 7th ’09 it was updated with several hotfixes related to .net framework 2.0 and 3.5.Now i cannot access the central administration tool of the server.I know this is because of the recently patched versions.How to uninstall only those updates which are patched.Please help me on this

Hi Mellvin – Any updates that you have installed that allow you to uninstall them should appear in the Add/Remove Programs or Programs and Features control panels. If you don’t see the update listed there, it doesn’t support uninstall, and if you need to remove it you would need to do one of the following instead:

Uninstall and re-install the entire .NET Framework.

Restore to an earlier system restore checkpoint from before the update was installed if you have one.

Hi Mellvin – Some updates allow you to uninstall them individually, but some do not. If the update you want to remove doesn’t have an uninstall option listed for it in Add/Remove Programs, then the only options I know of to remove that update are to uninstall and re-install the .NET Framewor itself or to use a system restore checkpoint (which you already said you didn’t have on your system). Sorry for the hassles. 🙁

If I am running Windows XP home edition and do not development software applications, do I need to install .NET Framework component that supports building and running the next generation of applications and XML Web services.

Trying to determine if.NET Framework component is really needed to run Windows XP home edition when I am not developing software applications.

Hi Gbowers – The .NET Framework is a runtime component. Even if you are not a software developer, you would need it on your system in order to be able to run any applications you have installed that are created by other people/companies if those applications were built with the .NET Framework. Most of those applications will install the .NET Framework as a part of their setup if it is not yet on the system though, so most of the time it is not necessary to install the .NET Framework by itself.

I’ve been having problems with Windows Updates. One of the solutions I found was to remove and reinstall the .Net Framework, which led me to this tool. However, when I run it the "Removing registry information" process hangs. The last few lines of the main.log read:

Hi Jaerdon – There is one case I know of where the cleanup tool will hang while trying to delete registry keys – it tries to recursively delete some keys and all of their values, and if one of those fails due to an access denied error or something like that, then it will get stuck trying to delete it over and over. I need to make a fix to the cleanup tool for that scenario but haven’t had time yet unfortunately.

In the meantime, you should be able to try to manually delete the keys that it is getting stuck on and then re-run the tool to see if that will help get it running correctly. Can you see if you can manually delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv2.0.50727 and any other sub-keys you might have at that location that start with v2.0.* and then re-run the tool to see if that helps unblock things?

Hi Biren – There is one possible scenario where the cleanup tool can hang while attempting to remove registry keys. In order to see if that is what is happening on your computer, can you please zip up all of the logs from the cleanup tool (there should be 3 of them, named %temp%cleanup*.log), then upload the zip file to a file server of your choice (such as http://skydrive.live.com), then reply here with a link I can use to download the logs and take a look?

Hi Biren – From your cleanup logs, it looks like the tool is having trouble deleting the following registry key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv2.0.50727]

Can you please try to manually delete that key using regedit.exe and then re-run the cleanup tool and see if it will finish successfully after that? If it still ends up hanging, can you please post an updated set of logs from the cleanup tool so I can take a further look?

I’m sorry for the hassles with the subscription functionality. I don’t have any control over that behavior though – that is something that is happening in the blog hosting engine that blogs.msdn.com uses. For now, I guess you’ll have to manually monitor for updated comments.

Hi Biren – You will need to open regedit.exe, go to the key named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv2.0.50727, click Delete, and then click Yes when it asks if you want to delete the key and all of its sub-keys. After it finishes deleting the key and its sub-keys, hopefully you’ll be able to run the cleanup tool and have it complete successfully, and then re-install the .NET Framework successfully.

Reinstall idea for 2.0 thru 3.5: rather that going through the pain of so many sequential installs as listed at the end of the guide, use the windows update under optional software listing of

"Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 and .NET Framework 3.5 Family Update (KB951847) x86" to get a complete reinstall of 2.0 thru 3.5 lacking only as few updates since the family update. This family update will appear as available after using cleanup tool for removal.

Good morning. I wonder if when you have a few moments, you might help me out with .NET Framework. I used the cleanup tool because windows update could not install .NET update. I did not save the original error message, sorry. I ran the cleanup tool and it came back with a successful message. I then downloaded dotnetfx35.exe and NDP35SP1-KB958484-x86.exe. I ran dotnetfx356.exe and got the error message:

I also re-installed Windows Installer. I get the following error message when I then try to install .Net 2.0:

Error 1406. Could not write value C:WINDOWSMicrosoft.netFrameworkv1.0.3705System.Windows.Forms.tlb to key SoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSharedDlls. Verify that you have sufficient access to that key, or contact your support personnel.

Hi Idontknow – I wanted to make a couple of comments about your scenario. The cleanup tool is not a full replacement for the normal uninstall process for the .NET Framework, and there are some cases where information is left behind. The tool is only intended to remove enough of the .NET Framework to allow a future re-install to succeed.

If an item is listed in Add/Remove Programs, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the program is actually installed. Add/Remove Programs looks at information listed in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall and displays whatever is listed there. In the case of those .NET Framework hotfixes, the cleanup tool doesn’t remove the Add/Remove Programs registry keys for every one of them, so they end up still appearing in that list even if the files that are a part of the hotfixes get removed.

I definitely suggest trying to re-install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 instead of re-installing 2.0, then 3.0 then 3.5. The 3.5 SP1 will install 2.0 SP2 and 3.0 SP2 behind the scenes, so that can save you needing to download and install those versions separately.

I suggest downloading and installing the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 directly instead of using Windows Update though. Windows Update will run the installer in silent mode, which will hide any error messages. Running the installer directly will provide more useful troubleshooting information in case of a failure.

Running XP SP3 and every important update needed, I had problems with installation of version 3.5, I already had version 1, 1.1 & 2. I was trying to reset permissions in the registry and accidentally hit the delete key and screwed up the registry. Best move was to format and start all over from scratch, so I did the format and fresh OS install, SP3, all the important updates except now not one version of .NET framework will install, every time an install starts it will get to the point of registering system.enterpriseservices.dll and the PC reboots itself. After restart event viewer shows windows installer reports that the .net framework installation was a success. I have tried your cleanup tool, permissions tool, msconfig services etc and still have no luck installing. I am starting off by installing version 3.5. Any tips or suggestions to help keep my sanity and get some sleep would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Ajc1958 – I’ve heard of different types of issues related to registering System.EnterpriseServices.dll, but this is the first time I’ve heard of the system rebooting on its own during .NET Framework setup. I’d first suggest trying to install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 since that is the latest version, and it contains some fixes that might help in this type of scenario.

I have used this file several times and absolutely love it, I have founf however that once it is done running, the C:WINDOWSMicrosoft.NETFramework has not been cleared. In serveral instances after running this app, I have discovered that clearing the contents of this folder but not removing the folder its self resolves quite a few more errors that were not resolved simply by just running this tool.

Hi Aero98 – Thanks for the feedback on the cleanup tool. The tool is not designed as a replacement for the standard product uninstall process (it is intended to remove enough of the .NET Framework to allow a future installation to succeed). As a result, it is expected that it will not fully remove the c:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFramework directory.

If you’re seeing problems installing the .NET Framework after running the tool because of some of the files that are left behind, then please let me know more details about your scenario (what files are causing problems, what exact error messages you are seeing, etc) so I can look into improving the tool in the future.

I downloaded the cleanup tool successfully, but when I tried to open the zip file, I got a message "The compressed (zipped) file is invalid or corrupt." I tried both versions (the two links) and both gave the same result.

Hi Terry K – I'm not sure why you would be getting that error. Both of the zip files work fine for me on multiple computers that I've tried them on. Do you have problems opening other zip files on your computer as well?

Hi Ben Gasser – The cleanup tool will run correctly on Windows 7. However, it will not allow you to remove the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 7 because that version of the .NET Framework is an OS component, and the cleanup tool does not allow you to remove versions of the .NET Framework that are installed as OS components.

If you want to remove the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 7, then you can go to the Programs and Features control panel, click on the link on the left side that is labeled Turn Windows features on or off, then uncheck the item named Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 and click OK.

Hi A Dutch Man – I'm sorry for the hassles you're running into. What exact errors are you seeing, and what versions of the .NET Framework are you seeing them with? Can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to gather your .NET Framework log files, upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool produces to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com) and then reply back here with a link that I can use to download your log files and take a further look?

I have a Windows 7 64 bit computer that I need to downgrade the framework to version 2, before the service packs. We run Microsoft Dynamics and in order for the install to run properly that is the version you have to have on your machine. I see from the post above that I can not remove version 3.5. I ran your utility and I also have the box unchecked in the Windows features. Anyway that I can install version 2? I tried and it says a version is already installed on the machine? Thanks

Hi Ktcoleman – Windows 7 includes the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 as a part of the OS, and that in turn includes the .NET Framework 3.0 SP2 and 2.0 SP2. You can uncheck the item named Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 in the Windows Features control panel, but that will only hide 3.0 SP2 and 3.5 SP1. You cannot remove or hide the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 on this OS. However, any application that requires the .NET Framework 2.0 should work fine with 2.0 SP2 on the system instead. Does the installer give you some kind of error in this scenario?

I tried downloading the clean-up tool zip file to my desktop, but every time I try to open it, the computer goes crazy and keeps opening up new boxes with Windows Explorer 8 and I have to shut everything down to stop the chaos. What am I doing wrong? I have an HP m8020n Pavillion Media Center and am running Vista Home Premium Service Pack 2. Thanks for your guidance; I am a relative novice to all this.

Hi Gary – I haven’t heard of this type of problem before. Does this start happening when you try to double-click the zip file to extract it? Do you have another computer you could use to try to extract the zip file instead? If not, can you please contact me by using the form at blogs.msdn.com/…/contact.aspx and I can try to email you a copy of the tool instead?

Hi Aaron – Haven't received the e-mail with the .Net Removal Tool yet; I don't know why I can't double-click the file on my desktop without explorer going nuts and opening 10,000 boxes. Tried disabling Norton and turning off pop-up blocker but still having the same trouble. Looking forward to receiving your e-mail soon. Thanks much.

Hi Jamesss – Did you try to use both of the download links? They are both working fine for me, so I'm not sure why you would be seeing this type of error. I can try to email you a copy as well, but I will just be emailing the same thing that is linked in this user's guide, so I'm not sure that will give you any better results. Do you have any other computer you could try to download and extract this zip file on in the meantime just in case this is being caused by something on your computer?

how come we have dot net 4 and still we need this tool to uninstall&re-install dot net?

every month or so, when i have a new update to dot net, it fails and i have to uninstall anything related to dot net by using the normal method (add/remove programs) ,using this tool and using the installer cleanup tool of Microsoft.

why can't the new dot net simply replace all of the previous versions and stop failing the update of itself?

these problems exist from the first time i used dot net (version 1) , and we have now version 4…

how could this be?

btw, i'm using (legal) windows xp sp3 32bit home edition.

when there is a new version of java , we simply install on top, or uninstall the older version and install the new one. why can't the same thing work for dot net? for every tiny update/patch, create a new build number which everyone can use , and simply replace the older version.

since Microsoft is the owner of Windows, it shouldn't be hard to master the way installations work on this platform.

Hi Frustrated User – I'm sorry for the hassles and frustrations that these issues end up causing. The versions of the .NET Framework are designed to install and run side-by-side, which is why each new version doesn't replace previous versions. Unfortunately, there are some bugs in previous versions of the .NET Framework that can cause issues installing updates for those versions. Fortunately, each new version contains fixes for issues found in previous releases, and in particular the 4.0 version has been significantly more reliable, even during the beta versions. I anticipate that there will be many fewer issues once updates start to be released for the .NET Framework 4. I realize however that this isn't much consolation to you as you continue to deal with issues patching previous versions of the .NET Framework, and I'm sorry for that.

Hi Frustrated User – I'm sorry for the hassles and frustrations that these issues end up causing. The versions of the .NET Framework are designed to install and run side-by-side, which is why each new version doesn't replace previous versions. Unfortunately, there are some bugs in previous versions of the .NET Framework that can cause issues installing updates for those versions. Fortunately, each new version contains fixes for issues found in previous releases, and in particular the 4.0 version has been significantly more reliable, even during the beta versions. I anticipate that there will be many fewer issues once updates start to be released for the .NET Framework 4. I realize however that this isn't much consolation to you as you continue to deal with issues patching previous versions of the .NET Framework, and I'm sorry for that.

I have spent all day trying to fix a Framework.net 3.5 KB982526 that refuses to install on Win7 x64. MS Framework.net did not show up in add remove so I used the cleanup tool to apparently remove Framework versions yet the update is still showing up even after reboot. As well dotnetfc35.exe refuses to install. At my wits end.

but because they don't replace each other ,i end up having more and more dot-net versions , each takes a lot of space and each has its own updates , and each time there is an update that doesn't work (and 90% of them do not work when they are published) , i have to uninstaill anything of Microsoft that is related to dot net (of course i always try to minimize the number of uninstallatios).

there should be an option for us to replace previous versions, and for the updates to always work and automatically fix what seems to be broken. i can't count the number of hours that i've spent for trying to fix any Microsoft installer and update . it even happens for Microsoft programs that use dot net, such as Visual C# and SQL Server .

sometimes the error message tells me that it wants the installer file . this is wrong – why would it need such a thing? why would i save all of the installations if the program worked before? it happens even when i try to uninstall something. how come the uninstaller can't just remove what was installed? a single MSI file cannot know which files where installed , how and where…

and there are plenty of more issues. today i had a problem with SQL server 2008 R2 express refusing to be installed.

it seems that Microsoft took another step for making fixing hard by removing the installe cleanup tool unavailable from Microsoft website. i had to get it from somewhere else instead.

even if you insist of allowing multiple versions of dot net to be installed , you could simply have something like the compatability tab in the properties of exe files, so they could be run by any of the versions. if dot net 4 is better and faster than dot net 3 , why would any program not be able to use it for its advantage?

why all the hassle of installing multiple frameworks and multiple updates for each? dot net 3 already took me more than 700MB for itself alone. why do i need to have such a space wasted? it didn't even allow me to install it somewhere else .

Usually, when this type of error is encountered, the cleanup tool will proceed with some additional removal steps that will allow you to re-install the .NET Framework even though you encountered this error. Can you please proceed with a re-install of the .NET Framework and see if you run into any issues?

Hi Fedup – I'm sorry for the hassles you've run into while trying to install the .NET Framework. Can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to gather all of your .NET Framework setup log files, post them to a file server such as http://skydrive.live.com, and then reply here with a link I could use to download the log files and see if I can figure out what is causing the installation failure on your computer?

Thanks for your expertise cutting through the Microsoft fog and providing such a helpful and effective tool. I am in debt to you saving me hours of frustration. Maybe MSoft should work for you. From Tokyo

help everytime i start my comuter it says netframework has a prob then if i try to downlaod updates it never does. microsoft net.framwork 1.1 service pack 1 security update for micro works 8 (kb977304) these do not update help!!! also i get errorr codes 643 and 646 error codes

Hi – you say "I don't see any major issues with you doing that assuming that you've read and agree to the license agreement that is included with each of these tools". I can't find a license agreement in history.txt, readme.txt or on this webpage – under what license (if any) may this tool be redistributed? Thanks!

When the file download window appears, please click "Save", and follow the directions to save it on the Desktop. After downloading the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 setup file on your Desktop, double-click to manually install it.

So here is the question: If I have an older program that uses an old version of .NET like 2.0 will that program still work if I use your tool to remove all versions and then follow step 2 above?

Hi Steve – The .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 also installs the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 and 3.0 SP2 behind the scenes. Any applications that you have installed that require the .NET Framework 2.0 should work fine after installing the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1.

There is some additional information to help you decide whether or not you need to re-install older versions of the .NET Framework such as 1.0 or 1.1 in the blog post at blogs.msdn.com/…/9557946.aspx so I'd suggest taking a look at that as well.

Hi Akino – You can use the Windows Features control panel (optionalfeatures.exe) to remove the .NET Framework 3.0 from Windows Vista and to remove the .NET Framework 3.0 + 3.5 from Windows 7. You cannot remove the .NET Framework 2.0 though because parts of the OS (such as MMC and Windows Media Center) require it. Can you please explain the scenarios where you need to remove the .NET Framework 2.0 in more detail so I can understand them better?

Hi James – I'd suggest trying to use the steps listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to fully remove the .NET Framework from your computer, then re-install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, then the .NET Framework 1.1, 1.1 SP1 and any 1.1 security updates that your computer needs.

Aaron, I've racked my brain on this- hoping I can turn to you as a final resort. I've been having .NET issues for a while…went back and forth with a Microsoft rep (via email) for about a month with no resolution. Currently, my Win 7 'Programs and Features' shows .NET 4 Framework Client Profile & Extended as installed: but I suspect them to be partially/incorrectly installed. Multiple programs tell me .NET is not installed even though I see this in my installed programs.

After running your cleanup tool, I (attempted) to reinstall .net 4 …above, mentioned is where I am now. cid-3f1ba9cec01b4660.office.live.com/…/vslogs.cab is where you can download the output from your log collection tool, if you have any time to check it out. Super desperate…Joe

Hi Joe – The logs you attached show a successful install of the .NET Framework 4. What exact errors are you seeing on your system, and are you able to tell what version of the .NET Framework the errors are coming from?

It is possible that there is something wrong with the version of the .NET Framework that comes with your OS on Windows 7 (the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2, 3.0 SP2 and 3.5 SP1). You may want to double-check that you have all of the .NET Framework 2.0 information set correctly on your computer from the list at blogs.msdn.com/…/3260076.aspx.

Thank you so much for looking at the logs Aaron! I'll review the list. I've added 3 more screenshots cid-3f1ba9cec01b4660.office.live.com/…/.Documents which I had sent to the MSFT rep who was helping me back in May. Perhaps my historic failures when updating the following: KB973924, KB954430, KB973688 are related too<?> thx again 🙂

Hi Joe – The errors in the screenshots that you attached do not appear to be caused by the .NET Framework to me. They look like errors related to installing OS updates. The System Update Readiness tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/9303167.aspx might help you in this scenario.

Can some one help with erros I am getting when trying to install Adobe softwares.

When installing Lightroom 3, it proceeds nicely and then I get following error message and it rolls back.

"Error 1935. An error occurred during the installation of assembly component.{5C21D397-1DA5-3749-8C1F-165F21DE9E3E}. HRESULT: 0x80070002."

When I am installing Adove CS5 design premium, it goes smoothly untill I get Exit code 7 with several error and warning messages. I have not included those unless someone wish to see them.

Exit 7

Exit Code: 7

————————————– Summary ————————————–

0 fatal error(s), 102 error(s), 106 warning(s)

Adobe sites gives various options (kb2.adobe.com/…/kb403969.html)which I tried without success. I was not able to repair the isntaller as it was not letting me isntall redistributable pack. It said not applicable to my system. I skipped this step. However, last option is to uninstall/reinstall .NET and deleting registry keys. I am not sure I should do this. I affraid of messing my laptop. Any one has a better solution?

Normally, the cleanup tool will be able to recover from that type of error and continue with removal. I'd suggest going ahead and trying to re-install the .NET Framework and see if it succeeds.

Also, in the future, instead of posting the entire contents of the log file as a comment, please upload the log file to a file server such as http://skydrive.live.com and post a link to the log as a comment. It makes it much easier for folks to read the comments later on.

Hi Ricky1982 – If you haven't yet, I'd suggest using the steps at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to fully remove the .NET Framework versions that you have installed, then try to install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (which will also install the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 and 3.0 SP2 for you behind the scenes). After that, please try again to install VS 2008 and hopefully it will install correctly for you.

Hi Bob – The 1935 error you are seeing has HRESULT value 0x80070002. That means that a file cannot be found that is needed during the installation. That could be caused by some kind of problem with the installation files you are installing from or by some kind of problem on your OS. It is possible that it is caused by a .NET Framework issue, but not necessarily. It might help to try one of the following:

Re-download the setup files for this program (or if you are installing from a CD or DVD, try to gently clean the back of the disc

Try to temporarily disable anti-virus or anti-spyware programs on your computer during the installation. Sometimes this type of error can be caused by overly aggressive programs like this.

I don't have any specific expertise troubleshooting Adobe setup programs, so I'm not sure what would cause the error code 7 that you mentioned in your 2nd issue. Normally, I'd suggest contacting the software manufacturer's technical support team to troubleshoot that type of issue.

Hi DaniNew – After using the cleanup tool to remove the .NET Framework 2.0, I'd suggest trying to install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 next. It will install the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 and 3.0 SP2 automatically behind the scenes. I don't think you will have to remove your ACAD program in order to fix this .NET Framework issue.

Hi Frank – The cleanup tool doesn't currently include the ability to remove .NET Framework language packs. If you are encountering errors when trying to uninstall a .NET Framework language pack from the Programs and Features control panel, then I'd suggest trying to use the steps listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/487096.aspx to manually uninstall it.

Mr. Stebner, thanks for this tool worked great on the nagging 0x64c error so many people get when trying to do updates on .NET versions, clean up with the tool followed by reinstall of .net framework and updates take like a charm.

First, thanks for the tool. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to fix my problem. I'm going to try and keep a rather long story as short as possible:

I has dotnetfx 1.1, 2.0 SP2, 3.0 SP2, and 3.5 SP1 installed OK, with all updates, running under XP SP3

I installed hotfix NDP30SP2-KB967634-x86.exe. This was necessary to fix a memory leak problem in some Alpha software.

The hotfix caused some other problems in Alpha software, so I needed to uninstall dotnetfx 3.5 and reinstall it. I uninstalled versions 3.0 and 3.5 (at that point I didn't realize 3.5 also installed 2.0, which is why I didn't uninstall 2.0 as well), and then reinstalled 3.5. Then I installed the security updates via Windows Update. This put it in an update loop, where it kept telling me to install KB951847, KB979909, KB982168, and KB983583 over and over again.

So I used your tool to uninstall all versions of dotnetfx and reinstall. I have done this several times, but it always leaves me in an update loop for KB982524 and KB982168. I won't bore you with the details of every attempt, I'll just give the details of the last one, since that was by far the most aggressive.

1) Turn off Norton Autoprotect and Norton Firewall, in case they are interfering in some way with the uninstall.

2) In ProcessExplorer (sysinternals) kill every process that I think won't kill the PC, in case they are interfering in some way with the uninstall.

3) Run dotnetfx cleanup tool twice.

4) Run CCleaner. This actually found a number of dead registry entries associated with dotnet. Delete all those entries.

I remembered seeing in one forum that you could use ProcessExplorer to search for any processes that might lock the GAC, but the poster omitted to mention what to search for. Well, I found that information elsewhere (i.e. "Assembly"), and performed the search. The only thing it turned up was PresentationFontCache. I am almost certain this is not the source of the problem though. I don't recall seeing it there before, and sunsequently have tracked it down to that Alpha software, which starts this process but fails to stop it when you exit the software. Anyway, to be certain I killed it, and then repeated the process above, but without killing all the processes or shutting down Norton after every reboot. However, at every step I did use ProcessExplorer to check nothing was running that might lock the GAC. I also installed the updates one at a time, rather than in batches. When I did that the search for "Assembly" turned up mscorsvw.exe. I guess this precompiles the .NET assemblies, so after every update I waited until the process shut down on it's own before installing the next update. I still have the same problem though: KBKB982524 and KB982168 report that they installed OK, but then reappear in Windows Update. I also found your dotnetfx verification tool, and ran that. It reports that all my dotnetfx versions are installed OK.

Hi Richard – I'm sorry for the hassles that this issue has caused for you. It sounds like the .NET Framework and its updates are installed correctly but that there is a problem with the Windows Update detection logic for those last 2 updates. It might help to try to reboot and force Windows Update to check for updates again, or to use the steps listed in the knowledge base article at support.microsoft.com/…/971058 to reset your Windows Update components.

Thanks for the link. I tried it, but even in aggressive mode with Norton temporarily disabled it didn't fix the problem. It cleared the updates out of the taskbar, but after the automatic update cycle last night they are back again! Installing them (yet again!) also does not make them go away.

I think my only option at this point is to hide them. My concern with that approach is that the availability of some updates seem to be dependent on previous ones being installed. I don't want to be locked out of some future security update because Windows thinks these are not installed, but at this point I don't see any alternatives 🙁

Dear Aaron, thank you for your time and help. I took my vista 1pk, 32, laptop for virus removal and a few mos. later a lil window says Microsoft is not legit…He put in another key number I didn't know anything about that then but I know now that he put a copy in and I can't even get updates anymore..It even came back with new programs like roxio, word 2003, and an extra dvd player I already had one…I tried changing my key number to the original but it will still not take updates and my laptop goes crazy when I am typing..what can I do…Please some of us do not understand a lot of your computer words, can you help us that dont know much and are taken advantage of..I am a senior and can't afford all that fixing out there but I do want to learn please help us we are out here too….Thank you Aaron

Hi Nin – I'm sorry, but I don't really have any expertise in troubleshooting issues related Windows reporting that it is not a genuine copy. I'd suggest contacting the technical support team for your computer manufacturer and/or Microsoft Technical Support for additioanl assistance in this scenario. You can find contact information for Microsoft Technical Support at http://support.microsoft.com.

Hi Richard – I'm not sure what else to suggest aside from hiding those updates. You may want to try to contact Microsoft Technical Support to see if they can help, and/or you may want to post a question in one of the Windows Update forums to see if anyone there has any additional suggestions. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to be more helpful in this scenario.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been able to be more helpful in this scenario"

Regardless of the outcome, I am very grateful for the time you have spent trying to help me. That time is in addition to the time you have spent writing this blog and posting a number of tools that have helped many people. That includes me – I started with four problem updates, and after using your dotnexfx clean up tool I'm down to only two. I am also now at least confident that I have the updates installed, and it's just a Windows reporting problem.

Hi Cato – There are a few cases where the cleanup tool can hang if it is unable to delete one of the registry keys that it needs to delete. In this case, you should be able to use regedit.exe to manually delete or rename the registry sub-key named the following:

I have all adminrights + additional rights, but for this subkey i cant set rights. if i want to set them, there is a message: safty rights can not be shown. (in german: Die Sicherheitseinstellungen können nicht angezeigt werden).

A few months ago my .NET framework got corrupted while trying to install 3.5. I soon after discovered that I didn't need the program that was trying to install 3.5 and didn't worry about it until recently when I discovered that other programs using 2.0 and 3.0 (don't know the Service Packs) wouldn't function. These are programs I don't use very often but I need them to work. I've tried un-installing everything, reboot, and then re-install them, but the only one that installs is 1.1 – 2.0 says I have a previously installed version and aborts, and 3.5 fails as well.

So, I found you Cleanup Utility and ran it and now I have another problem – after the utilty asked me to restart windows (which I did) the Windows installer dialog box comes up and says "preparing to install" – for up to an hour, at which point another box came up saying the server was busy. I selected cancel, which acted like it was canceling (cancel box was greyed out) for over 30 min. Finally I restarted, and 3 Windows installer dialog boxes came up and said "preparing to install" – then they would disappear, reappear, disappear, reappear, for about 5-10 min until I'm back the one box. I tried restarting, and the same thing happened.

I've noticed others have copied and pasted log files into their entries, but I'm not sure where to find these to do that.

Hi Kneeboarder1025 – The "preparing to install" dialogs that you are seeing after rebooting could be caused by a program that requires the .NET Framework that is trying to repair it or something like that. I'd suggest dismissing those dialogs and then trying to re-install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 on your system. Can you try installing that and reboot and see if that helps clear up that issue?

I'm at my wit's end with .NET. A program I installed this evening installed .NET Framework 2.0. After the installation, the program wouldn't launch. I uninstalled and attempted to reinstall. Early in the installation process I received an error: "Exception of type System.OutOfMemoryException was thrown." Best I could tell, this is a .NET problem. I went through my Windows XP control panel to remove 2.0 and it froze my computer. I tried using Windows Update to upgrade to 3.5, it froze the computer. I tried using your cleanup tool, it froze the computer. I read through the comments here and deleted the registry key, then ran the cleanup tool again and it froze the computer. I'm about to go buy a sledge hammer…

Hi Roger – I'm sorry for the hassles that this issue is causing for you. I haven't heard of any issues until now where installing or uninstalling the .NET Framework caused the entire computer to freeze. It could be a hardware problem on your computer (dying RAM or something like that maybe?) It could also be something with the hard drive – you may want to try running chkdsk.exe /R to see if that helps. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else to suggest. Hopefully one of these ideas will help.

Wow, you were right on the money. After running chkdsk everything went smoothly. Given there was (or is?) something wrong with the hard drive, do you think it's likely to fail soon, or did the chkdsk take care of whatever problems there were?

Hi Roger – It is hard to say whether the hard drive is likely to fail or not. Sometimes, running chkdsk when this type of issue occurs will solve things permanently, but sometimes the issues will recur. I'd suggest keeping an eye out over the next few weeks to see if you run into any similar behavior, and if so, it is probably time to think about getting a new hard drive or a new computer. Also, I'd strongly suggest making sure you have a good backup of the data on your hard drive just in case. That is a good idea even if your hard drive isn't showing any signs of failure. I've learned that lesson the hard way in the past…

I've been using vista ultimate for a year & half and everything was fine until it has got problems downloading Microsoft office 2007 updates these past few weeks..it always declares windows update error "code80070643".. I've tried looking for its solutions & fixing them though i'm not a computer whiz..but didn't work.. I've tried "Microsoft fix it 50123" but still can't update..now i got another advice on the net to download ".NET framework clean up tool" but im sure what this is..im having little ideas about frameworks or whatever..what should i do, download the clean up tool? or is it ok if i'll just keep on ignoring the ms office updates? please help me what to do..

I'm running XP SP3 and trying to use the latest edition (2010-04-29) of your tool to remove all releases of the .NET Framework. It hangs using all of the CPU; the following is at the bottom of the cleanup_main.log:

Hi Bizkit – The .NET Framework cleanup tool is typically useful if you have problems installing the .NET Framework or .NET Framework updates. I don't think you need to run the .NET Framework cleanup tool if you are having trouble installing updates for Microsoft Office. I'd suggest looking on the Microsoft Office newsgroups/forums to see if you can find some help there for this issue installing Office updates.

Hi Joe – I couldn't tell from your comment if you're having a specific problem using this tool or any of the steps in this blog post. Please let me know if you're having any specific problems and I'll try to provide more detailed troubleshooting steps.

Hi Kuta42 – I know of a problem in the cleanup tool that can cause it to hang while deleting registry keys in some rare scenarios where the registry key fails to be deleted at an OS level. I haven't heard of that registry error before, but from the information at technet.microsoft.com/…/cc959584.aspx, it sounds like it could be caused by being out of disk space on your system drive. I'd suggest trying to delete some files from your system drive and see if that helps solve this registry deletion error.

ive ran the cleanup utility on my com on a couple differant times as well as doing it manually, but i still keep getting an error when it comes back to the .net 1.1 sp1. i thought i had it fixed but its still coming back to haunt me. HELP!!!

I received an error code when Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 Family Update (KB959209) x86 Failed. I found this site through Microsoft support. All of my .msi files are missing. Could you provide steps I should take to correct this issue, after reading through other postings I am unclear whether I should run the cleanup or try to reinstall.

Hi Mike W – I'm sorry for the hassles with your previous comment being lost, and also for the hassles getting the .NET Framework to install correctly. For both of these failures, I'll need some additional log files to narrow down the failures further.

Hi Katherine – I'd suggest using the steps listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to fully remove the .NET Framework from your computer and then re-install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 to see if that helps solve this error installing the 3.5 family update on your computer.

I am unable to install Windows updates and have spent many hours on the phone and remote access with the Microsoft Safety Support folks to no avail. According to my Add/Remove Programs list I have Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 (1033), Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and some Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Client Profile and Extended) on my computer. Should I try the tool or toss the computer? If you think I should use the tool, which version should I remove?

Hi Mary – I'm sorry for the hassles that this issue is causing for you. What version of Windows are you running, and what Windows Updates are failing for you (do they all fail, or is it just .NET Framework updates)?

Can you also please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to gather your .NET Framework setup log files, then upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool creates to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), then reply back here with a link I can use to download your log files and take a further look?

hi can anybody pls help me with my windows update problem… it is always error thats why my windows cannot update up to now.. it makes me worried because every day there is so many important updates that i cannot install.. im using windows vista premium sp2.. pls can anyone email me joy_capon@yahoo.com..

Hi Aaron, I checked with my IT guy about doing as you suggested with uploading my log to you and he doesn't think it is necessary. His company has used your took many times with no problems. He suggested I just download the tool and use it to uninstall all versions of .NET Framework, then reinstall all including the optionals except for Windows Search 4.0 and Windows Live Essentials. I think I'll do that unless you see a problem with my plan. I'm running Windows XP Professional. By the way the remaining updates that are failing for me after MS Support efforts are:

Hi Joy – If you are having trouble installing all types of Windows Updates, then I'd suggest trying to use the support options listed at http://support.microsoft.com. If you are having trouble with only .NET Framework updates, then can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to gather your .NET Framework setup log files, then upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool creates to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), then reply back here with a link I can use to download your log files and take a further look?

Hi Frustrated User – It is a core design principle of the .NET Framework that the versions support side-by-side installation and usage. This is intended to help improve application compatibility for .NET applications. If all .NET applications used the same version, then it would be much easier to accidentally make a change as a part of some new feature or bug fix that broke existing applications for example.

There have been a lot of improvements made in .NET Framework 4 setup that should greatly reduce the need to uninstall + re-install in order to be able to install updates, etc. You can read more details about these improvements in the blog post at blogs.msdn.com/…/the-net-framework-4-installer-improvements.aspx if you're interested.

Hi Mary – I think your plan of uninstalling + re-installing sounds fine in this scenario. I usually recommend steps like the ones at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx for doing this.

I don't think that uninstalling + re-installing the .NET Framework will affect your ability to install those hotfixes you listed for Office 2007 or Silverlight though. Those are separate products and installation issues for their hotfixes tend to have different causes than installation issues for .NET Framework hotfixes. Hopefully those hotfixes produce verbose log files that can be used to help narrow down those issues further.

I'm confused. Shall I follow the steps in "Updated: what to do if other .NET Framework setup troubleshooting steps do not help" first, or should I gather and upload logs first like you suggested in your post of 11/11/10 8:16 pm?

Hi Aaron, While waiting I ran the tool after following the steps, downloaded updates and attempted to install; still have the four failures; gathered my log files and posted at cid-92e24f04c14d13cb.office.live.com/…/.Documents. If you can't download it I can e-mail the "View Folder" icon that I e-mailed to myself.

Hi Mary – I'm sorry for the confusion. I thought you were having .NET Framework installation problems in addition to the Office and Silverlight hotfix installation problems that you mentioned previously. If you're not having any trouble installing the .NET Framework or any .NET Framework updates, then there is no need to uninstall + re-install the .NET Framework. Also, the log collection tool only gathers Visual Studio and .NET Framework setup log files. It doesn't collect logs for other products like Office or Silverlight.

I'd suggest looking in your %temp% directory to see if you can find any log files for those 4 hotfixes that are still failing on your system. If you can find any of those logs, please upload them to your Skydrive share and I can try to take a look. I don't have as much expertise troubleshooting setup failures in other products, but I can at least try.

It might also help to try to download and install those updates directly instead of letting Windows Update try to install them for you. Windows Update runs installers in silent mode, which will hide some error messages that can be useful for troubleshooting failures. If you end up trying this, please let me know the exact error messages you see when you run those updates directly because that might help narrow down the root cause of the failure better.

Hi Aaron – Well, I wasn't having .NET Framework updates problems until I uninstalled and reinstalled all of them! Now, in addition to the Silverlight and Office hotfix failures I have two related to .NET Framwork 3.5. Here's my current list of failed-to-installs:

I'll try downloading and installing the Silverlight and Office hotfixes as you suggested. In the meantime, I've uploaded log files for the .NET Framework 3.5 KB2416473 failure. I can't find the other one (KB 982168) in the folder that opened when I ran %temp%.

Tried to download and install the Silverlight updates and ended up directed to uninstall and reinstall Silverlight. It wouldn't install because it hadn't been completely unistalled. An ms solution to completely removing Silverlight is to run AVS Registry Cleaner. I haven't done it yet because after reading the web page I feel like I'm getting in over my head.

Hi Mike W – If you're running Windows Vista or later, you will need to open an elevated cmd prompt or you will get access denied when adding that registry key. To do that, you can click on the Start menu, choose All Programs, choose Accessories, then right-click on the item named Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.

Hi Mary – For the Silverlight issue, I'm not familiar with the AVS registry cleaner. I'd suggest using steps like the ones at blogs.msdn.com/…/487096.aspx to manually remove Silverlight and then try to re-install it.

For the Office issue, it sounds like there is something wrong with the current install that is preventing those hotfixes from installing. I'd suggest trying to repair Office to see if that will solve this. If not, I'd suggest trying to uninstall + re-install Office, then try again to install those updates.

For the .NET Framework issue, I took a look and didn't see any errors in any of the .NET Framework hotfix log files that were in the vslogs.cab file that you uploaded. I'm not sure why Windows Update was reporting failures in those cases.

I'd suggest looking under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetservices] on your computer to see if you already have a version of that service installed (maybe from an older beta or something like that?), and if so, manually remove it to see if that helps solve this error. This might also be caused by a permission problem in that part of your registry, so I'd also suggest making sure that the local system account and the Administrators group have read+write permissions to that registry location.

For the .NET Framework 1.1 SP1, I actually found those log files in the vslogs.cab that you uploaded. I haven't seen the error that is listed in that log in my past experience. Here is what it is:

I think it may be failing while trying to write a registry value under [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce]. I'd suggest making sure that the local system account and the Administrators group have read+write permissions to that registry location to see if that will help resolve this error.

My PC is running Windows 7 64 bit. I had problems with a MS Update for .NET 4 Client Profile failing to install, so I was looking to clean up after the failure as it seemed to be affecting some other apps.

I ran your cleanup tool for .NET 4, then ran your verify tool for .NET 3.5 SP1, which reported all was OK. I was still concerned that your blog said after running the cleanup tool I would have to repair/reinstal .NET 3.5, so I also ran the repair tool (sfc /scannow) which reported no problems.

Do I still need to perform any further sort of repair to ensure registry entries are OK?

Hi Stevaliere – I think you should be OK at this point. The cleanup tool will remove some shared files, but it won't remove shared registry values. I'd suggest trying again to install the .NET Framework 4 on your computer if you need it to run any applications. If you don't need it, you can probably just go ahead and wait to install the .NET Framework 4 until you install an application that needs it in the future.

I'm feeling kinda dumb today i've been trying to install .Net Framework for a hole day, in windows 7, I've already run the cleaner and installed the .Net Framework 4 again but the installation aborts halfway, it complains about the setup file for example…

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] BlockIf: The setup cannot run in compatibility mode. For more information, see the Readme file….

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35]The setup cannot run in compatibility mode. For more information, see the Readme file.

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35]evaluating BlockIf:

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] Exists: evaluating…

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35]Not In OS Compatability Mode

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] Exists evaluated to false

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] BlockIf evaluated to false

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] BlockIf: Microsoft .NET Framework 4 is already a part of this operating system, but it is currently turned off. To enable the .NET Framework 4, use Turn Windows features on or off in Control Panel. More information….

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35]Microsoft .NET Framework 4 is already a part of this operating system, but it is currently turned off. To enable the .NET Framework 4, use Turn Windows features on or off in Control Panel. More information.

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] BlockIf: You do not have sufficient privileges to complete this operation for all users of this computer. Log on as an administrator and rerun Setup….

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35]You do not have sufficient privileges to complete this operation for all users of this computer. Log on as an administrator and rerun Setup.

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35]evaluating BlockIf:

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] Not: evaluating…

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] Exists: evaluating…

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35]IsAdministrator: IS a member of the Administrators group

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] Exists evaluated to true

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] Not evaluated to false

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] BlockIf evaluated to false

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35] BlockIf: The .NET Framework 4 Client Profile and the .NET Framework 4 Extended must be removed separately. Please use Control Panel to uninstall these programs. For more information, see the Readme file….

[11/22/2010, 13:45:35]The .NET Framework 4 Client Profile and the .NET Framework 4 Extended must be removed separately. Please use Control Panel to uninstall these programs. For more information, see the Readme file.

I am not sure if this is the correct place for this comment, but you all look like you know what you are talking about so here goes. I am trying to install a software developed by NEC for a VOIP phone on my computer. The software error message says I need Microsoft.Net Framework 2.0 SP1. When I tried to install the software from Microsoft it says I already have version 4. I have a Gateway computer that runs Windows Vista. Can I install two versions and if yes how?

Hi Jane P – Windows 7 comes with the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2, 3.0 SP2 and 3.5 SP1 – they are installed as a part of the OS. It is possible to disable 3.0 SP2 and 3.5 SP1 using the Windows Features control panel, but it is not possible to disable 2.0 SP2. It sounds like the software you are trying to install might have some incorrect logic for determining whether or not the .NET Framework 2.0 is installed on your computer. I think you'll need to follow up with the software manufacturer to see if they have an updated version that will install correctly on Windows 7.

My question is after running the tool, how do you reinstall the .net frameworks. The instructions state that you need to do this, but do not anywhere say how. I do not want to run this tool without knowing how to do the repair/reinstall. Am I missing something??? Please assist.

Hi Frustrated and Missing Some Info – All you need to do to re-install is re-download the installer for the version of the .NET Framework that you want to re-install and run it on your computer. You can find download links for all versions of the .NET Framework in the blog post at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx.

Thanks. Astebner. My issue is that I am trying to install a "security update microsoft .net framework 1.1 SP1" through the windows updater push, but get an error code 643. That led me down this path. I run vista. I ran the .net verification tool (located here blogs.msdn.com/…/8999004.aspx) and it indicated that my .nets were fine. I just want to make sure that you have all of the info. I am assuming that I should start by removing and installing 1.1 SP1 first, and see if that works. Will the tool above allow me to just select one? Is that my approach? Thanks so much!

Hi Frustrated and Missing Some Info – If possible, could you please send me the log files from the failing security update installation so I could take a further look before you try the cleanup tool? The logs will be located in your %temp% directory and will include the KB article number in the log file name. If you can find the log files, please upload them to a file server such as http://skydrive.live.com and then reply back here with a link I can use to download them and take a further look.

If you can't find any log files, then I'd suggest using the cleanup tool to remove the .NET Framework 1.1 (the tool offers you the choice of what version of the .NET Framework you want to remove), then re-install the .NET Framework 1.1 and 1.1 SP1, then try again to install this 1.1 security update.

Hi Ruzzz – I haven’t added the language packs to the cleanup tool because I haven’t run into any issues yet where the normal uninstall process for the language packs failed and needed to be cleaned up by this tool. Have you seen specific problems uninstalling the language packs using their entries in the Add/Remove Programs control panel?

I should mention before going any further that I had problems with this machine earlier in the year and used the Windows CD to do a repair to Windows. This was last summer and its seemed to fix the problems I was having. I haven't had any problems since until late Nov 2010 when odd things started happening. I installed a new Tablet but recently the drivers for it would spontaniously disappear during the day. I ended up making a shortcut to the driver installer on the desktop because of this. For a while there I was installing the driver 2 or 3 times a day. Now its fine for a week and then happens again.

I used to get a Windows update popup reminder in the lower right but since I did the repair of Windows with the CD that hasn't been happening. I've never let Windows do an update automatically. I set it to download and then let me know. I installed a copy of COMODO firewall about the time this started and I think It installed a version of the .Net Framework. Is this possible and the root of the problem?

Fearing I may have done something bad with the Windows repair CD I followed the instructions here:

So I went to "Add or Remove Programs" and tried repairing the install of 3.5 SP1 which succeeded. I started IE, went to Windows update and it failed again. Only now because of the repair its asking for:

I successfully removed .Net Framework 2 SP2, 3 SP2, 3.5 SP1 with no problems via "Add or Remove Programs". Then reinstalled 3.5 SP1 which also reinstalled 2 SP2 and 3 SP2 as you state. I went to Windows update and it failed again.

I had 9 other updates downloaded and waiting to be installed. After doing the above I now have 13 other updates. Is it ok to try installing one of them first, Would that fix the problem?

SO… am I at the point that I need to use .NET Framework Cleanup Tool? Would uninstalling Windows XP SP3 and then reinstalling it do anything to fix this problem?

Hi Andy – I'm sorry for the hassles that this issue is causing you. If you've already uninstalled and re-installed the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2, 3.0 SP2, and 3.5 SP1, then I don't think you need to use the cleanup tool to remove them again.

Which exact Windows Update packages are failing to install on your computer currently? If they are .NET Framework updates that are failing, can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to gather the log files, then upload the file %temp%vslogs.cab that is created by that tool to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), then reply back here and post a link that I can use to download your log files and take a further look?

Hi Andy – I don't see any information in your log files about the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 family update failing to install, so it is possible that it didn't even get far enough to have attempted the installation in the first place. Could you please try to download and install the 3 updates that are a part of that family update separately instead of letting Windows Update install them and see if that helps at all? You can find those 3 updates at http://www.microsoft.com/…/details.aspx.

Just wanted to say thanks, this tool worked perfect. I had spent two days repairing a framework 2.0 in WIN Server 2003. I used this to remove the bad copy of framework 2.0 and did a normal reinstall and everything works great now.

Followed the instructions, downloaded the tool, found the corrupt entries in 3.5 & 3.0, wiped them out and re-installed them. Everything good and the GfxUI.exe which came up all the time has now gone. I had been on this case for 3 days until I came across your tool. I want to say thanks for everything. NOTE: I did not re-install the 2.1 or the 3.1 updates as I think that is where my problem was. If I find a program requires them then I will install them.

Hi David – Usually, people run the cleanup tool if they tried to install a specific version or service pack of the .NET Framework and it failed, and they will try to install that same version after running the cleanup tool. I'd suggest trying to install whatever version you were previously trying to install when you ended up running the cleanup tool in the first place.

If you're not sure what version, then I'd suggest installing the .NET Framework 4 and the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 – most applications use one or the other of these versions. If you have an application that needs one of the older versions, then you can use the information in the blog post at blogs.msdn.com/…/9557946.aspx to help you determine which ones you need.

I am running Vista HP with SP1, 32bit. I am unable to open TurboTax(prog stops working) I have ran the cleanup tool, but I am unable to re-install any of the NETFrameworks. The 2.0 SP1 says its already installed, the 3.5 will not install.

Hi Breag – Windows Vista SP1 comes with the .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 and 3.0 SP1 as part of the OS, so there is no need to install those separately. I'd suggest trying to install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 from http://www.microsoft.com/…/details.aspx. This will install the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 and 3.0 SP2 behind the scenes.

If that fails to install as well, please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to collect all of your .NET Framework setup log files, upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), then reply back here and post a link that I can use to download your log files and take a further look.

I'm having the windows 7 version of this .NET problem, namely, that there is no visible .NET 3.5 to uninstall/reinstall etc. But i happened across an ingenious workaround that i hope doesn't blow up my computer, but so far seems to be working well:

It looks like TT2010 will install just fine if you can get past the autoinstall script which kills the installation if it doesn't find a .NET framework it likes. So if you can find the temp directory created by the installer, you can skip past the script and straight to the bona fide installer. so far, it's working for me with Windows 7 .NET framework 4 and TT2010 Deluxe:

Hi Andy – Thanks for posting about your experience. I've heard of other cases that are similar to yours where if you skip the bootstrapper and run TurboTax setup directly, it can work. The bootstrapper runs some verification steps for the .NET Framework, and there are some legitimate cases where it can block you from being able to install (because if the .NET Framework is broken on a computer, TurboTax won't install or run correctly). However, the bootstrapper is also overly aggressive in some cases and it will block you if some .NET Framework files are missing that aren't critical to the functionality of TurboTax.

One note too – the reason you don't see the .NET Framework 3.5 listed in your Programs and Features control panel is that Windows 7 includes the .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 as OS components. You can use the Windows Features control panel (optionalfeatures.exe) to show/hide the .NET Framework 3.5, but that is not the same thing as uninstalling and re-installing it.

Hi Breag – I'm sorry, but I can't get this link to work. Can you double-check the exact link text and also make sure you have shared it out so that everyone (and not just people on your friends list) can access it?

There is already another version of this package installed. To see if this is the cause, can you please try to use the steps listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/8803442.aspx to remove the packages that are a part of the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 from your computer and see if that helps solve this error?

Your version of Windows or your Windows service pack is a pre-release build. Do you happen to know if this could be the case on your computer?

I uninstalled .NET Framework 3.5 and updates listed on the blog you listed. Then proceeded to install .NET Frmwrk3.5. I tried installation of Turbotax after restarting computer, installation failed. I then checked for updates using Windows update. All updates installed, except Windows Vista KB971029. It failed producing Error 80070BC9. After installing updates, I restarted and tried installation of Turbotax again. It installed successfully but would not launch. It shows program stopped working, windows checking for solution.

I do not know about the pre-release build. I purchased it in early spring of 2008, it was purchased new.

Hi Breag – If you're able to get the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and TurboTax to install correctly, but it will not run afterwards, then I think your best bet is to contact TurboTax technical support. They should be able to provide more detailed troubleshooting assistance in this type of scenario.

A couple of other notes too – you don't need to worry about pre-release builds of Windows because you ended up getting the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 to install correctly. Also, it doesn't look like KB971029 is related to the .NET Framework at all, so I don't think that error would have caused any issues with TurboTax.

This is an absolutely amazing tool and amazing thread. I recently had some issues with my installation of XP and I didn't want to start from scratch considering everything I currently have on my system. One of the main issues dealt with the .NET Framework installations and after searching several "fixes" I came across this page. Not only did the cleanup tool completely remove the broken .NET Framework installations (save the 3.5 Hotfix which I read was uninstalled except the registry key which was easily fixed – thanks for that info!), I was able to redownload and reinstall the .NET Framework packs and updates without issue. Thank you!!!

Hi Dude33joan – Can you please list the exact error message that you're seeing? Also, what are you doing when you see the error – are you still running setup, or are you trying to run an application that requires the .NET Framework?

Hi Compiller – You're correct. I haven't added support for removing .NET Framework language packs to the cleanup tool because I haven't run into any issues in the past where language packs needed to be forcibly cleaned up by the cleanup tool – the normal uninstall process should work correctly for those. Are you running into problems getting the normal uninstall process to work correctly for these language packs?

Nice. But not sufficient. After the cleanup tool finished, my .NET world was still broken, I still had one or two hundred references to "Microsoft.NET" and "ASP.NET" remaining in my system registry, and the world was still broken. I had to delete those references, by hand, before my problem-child-in-hand (Turbotax 2010) was able to install and run successfully. I wish I could tell you which particular registry entries were causing the problem, but I lost track after the first dozen or so.

Note that I generally eradicate the entire relevant registry entry; not just the line that directly refers to .NET. "Relevant" is in the eye of the beholder of course. Also note, I'm not sure how intimately "ASP.NET" is connected to "Microsoft.NET", but cleaning it out too seemed like the right thing to do.

Since the registry is so magic in Windows, cleaning out the registry might have been sufficient unto itself, without the cleanup tool etc etc. But I didn't try it that way.

Hi GarryW – I haven't run into any scenarios until your comment where the cleanup tool left behind files or registry keys that interfered with future installations of the .NET Framework. If you have the ability to narrow this down any further, I would definitely like to know more details so I can update the cleanup tool to better handle this type of scenario in the future.

I couldn't uninstall .NET Framework 4 from Add or Remove Programs, but I managed to remove it using your cleanup tool.

I then proceeded to try to repair the installation of version 1.1, 2.0 SP2, 3.0 SP2, and 3.5 SP1 from Add or Remove Programs.

I noticed that .NET Framework 1.1 only had a Remove button, so I didn't click this.

.NET Framework 2.0 SP2 and 3.0 SP2 had both a Change and a Remove button, so I first clicked the Change button for 2.0 and then the one for 3.0.

I then clicked the Change/Remove button for 3.5 SP1, and this opened a dialog with a proper Repair option, which I selected.

After this had finished successfully, I installed KB959209 (the three update files). I then realized I had forgotten to repair 1.1, so I simply downloaded and installed the .NET Framework 1.1 Redist, and then the 1.1 SP1.

I seem to remember that the 1.1 Redist installer started, showing a progress bar for a short while, and then apparently finishing with no message. After I had installed 1.1 SP1, however, I got a message that it had finished successfully.

I then ran your .NET Framework setup verification tool, and all versions apparently verified successfully. I was happy.

I checked the log, and found no warnings, although I didn't read the whole log carefully. I searched for "warning" and skimmed through it. I just assumed the "verified successfully" message was enough to confirm the various versions had been installed correctly.

Then, the problems started …

I was going to install Microsoft LocStudio 6.11, and then I got a message saying that I needed to install .NET Framework 2.0 or higher before installing LocStudio 6.11. I decided to uninstall and reinstall .NET Framework 2.0-3.5 again.

At this time I didn't suspect something was wrong with the .NET Framework 1.1 installation, so I uninstalled the following .NET Framework versions from Add or Remove Programs in the following order: 1) 3.5 SP1, 2) 3.0 SP2, and 2.0 SP2. All were uninstalled successfully. Since I didn't suspect anything was wrong with the 1.1 installation, I didn't uninstall that.

I then installed .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 again (the full package of about 280 MB), and then the three KB959209 files.

Again I tried to install Microsoft LocStudio 6.11, and again I got the message that I needed to install .NET Framework 2.0 or higher before installing LocStudio 6.11.

I then suspected there was something wrong with .NET Framework 1.1, so I uninstalled 3.5 SP1, 3.0 SP2, and 2.0 SP2 from Add or Remove Programs in the same order as mentioned above. I then proceeded to uninstall .NET Framework 1.1 using the Remove button. I believe I got an "Are you sure?" type of message, and I clicked Yes. I can't remember if I got any message about it being removed successfully or not, but I remember not getting any error messages.

However, RIGHT after the uninstalling had finished, I noticed that the desktop refreshed, because all the desktop icons started to reload. The refreshing seemed to take an awfully long time, and many of the icons wouldn't reload.

Also I couldn't access the Start menu, because when I moved my mouse pointer over the Start button, it turned into an hourglass, and the Start button wouldn't respond. I noticed the hard disk was working a lot, so I just assumed it was a matter of waiting.

When all that hard disk activity finally settled, I got the error message that "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close." I clicked the "Don't Send" button, and then the same message popped up again, whereupon I clicked the button "Don't Send" again, only to have the same message pop up again. And this went on and on in a sort of crash loop. After some loops the message didn't appear anymore, but neither the Start button nor anything else on the Taskbar would respond to mouse clicks.

I managed to restart the computer via the Task Manager, thinking that this would solve the problem. But I was wrong.

The first thing that happened when I got to the desktop was Windows Explorer crashing with the same messages. I looped through this message by clicking "Don't Send" every time it popped up until it didn't pop up anymore. The Start button and Taskbar still wouldn't respond, nor any icons on the desktop.

I then opened the Task Manager and noticed two instances of drtwtsn32.exe running. I also noticed that the Task Manager dialog would work like a brush in a paint program when I moved it, and get repeatedly painted along my mouse movements.

Anyway, I ended one of the drtwtsn32.exe processes, and the "Windows Explorer has encountered …" message window would appear again. This time, however, I had access to the Start menu and the Taskbar as long as the message window remained open.

I then started Windows in safe mode, but I got the same "Windows Explorer has encountered …" error message this time as well.

To sum up where I am now:

As long as I keep the error message dialog open, I can access the Start menu and the Taskbar. I can also run various programs, such as Firefox 3.6.15 and Windows Media Player 11. I also ran "sfc /scannow" without a problem or any errors. So, in a way, everything seems to be working as normal, which is rather strange since Windows Explorer apparently has crashed, according to the error message, and is repeatedly crashing. In addition, I have no problem exploring files and folders in Windows Explorer, but it crashed again while "Search…" was running. I had no problem right-clicking files and selecting Properties, however.

Considering the above mentioned chain of events and problems, what may cause Windows Explorer to crash repeatedly, even in safe mode?

Based on how the problem started, I am assuming that the uninstalling of .NET Framework 1.1 caused this problem, but I am no expert, so I can't be sure.

IF the solution is to reinstall .NET Framework 1.1, is it then recommendable (or even possible) to reinstall it under these conditions?

Hi Kris – I'm very sorry for all of the hassles that these issues have caused for you. I don't know of any specific dependencies that Windows Explorer has on the .NET Framework, but maybe there is some kind of add-in or system tray application on your computer that depends on the .NET Framework that causes Windows Explorer to crash.

If you're able to download files while you're in this bad state, then I'd suggest trying to re-download and re-install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 to see if that will resolve the Windows Explorer crash.

If the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 is successfully installed and the product you're trying to install is still asking for the .NET Framework 2.0, then it is possible that there is some kind of logic problem in that installer that is causing it to not correctly recognize the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2. Is there an FAQ or a known issues list for that product that discusses this issue and/or offers any possible workarounds?

I have a big problem with my Windows server 2003 R2 X64. I have installed IIS and Sharepoint 2.0. Because i want to upgrade to Sharepoint 3.0, i decided to remove all framework en reinstall them. I used your cleanup tool several times and now if i run it is says succeeded.

Hi Davey B – Can you please try to run the .NET Framework setup verification tool and see if it reports any errors for the .NET Framework 3.5? You can find this tool at blogs.msdn.com/…/8999004.aspx. If it does report errors, please upload the log file from the tool to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com) then reply back here and post a link that I can use to download the log file and take a further look.

Hi Frank – I'm not able to get the link to your vslogs.cab to work for some reason, but from the description you posted, it sounds like Windows Installer itself is not working on your computer and that this problem isn't specific to the .NET Framework. Just to confirm, do you see problems like this while trying to install and uninstall other MSIs besides the .NET Framework on your computer?

Thank you so much for your answer. But i have still problems, i cannot uninstall the windows installer 4.5, It is not in de add/remove program, if i rename the msi.dll, msiexec.exe and the msihnd.dll to old they come automaticly back in my system32, how is that possible, even when i delete them, after refreshing my map they are back again.

If i run the MSICUU2 is wil have also the Error Installer terminated prematurely. Do you have an idea?

Hi Frank – It might help to try to run sfc.exe /scannow to repair the files that are a part of Windows on your computer. It might also help to try to re-install Windows Installer 4.5 even if it won't uninstall correctly first.

Hi Dawido_b – The log shows that the following files are missing from your computer that should be installed as a part of the .NET Framework 2.0:

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_32mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089bopomofo.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_32mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089normidna.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_32mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089normnfkc.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_32mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089normnfkd.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_32mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089sorttbls.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_64mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089bopomofo.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_64mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089normidna.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_64mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089normnfkc.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_64mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089normnfkd.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_64mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089sortkey.nlp

C:WindowsAssemblyGAC_64mscorlib2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089sorttbls.nlp

I'm not sure how they would have been removed from your computer. Unfortunately, running sfc /scannow does not repair files in the GAC. As a result, I think your only options here are to manually copy those files from another computer to the locations listed above or repair/re-install Windows to restore them.

Hi Dawido_b – There is a Windows Explorer add-in for viewing the GAC that prevents you from viewing the physical folder structure of the GAC. To access those folders, you'll need to go to the start menu, choose All Programs, then Accessories, then right-click in the item named Command Prompt and choose Run as Administrator. In the cmd prompt, you can type cd /d c:windowsassemblygac_32 (or gac_64).

Yes, you will need both 32-bit and 64-bit files – the computer you ran the verification tool on is 64-bit and it reported some 32-bit files and some 64-bit files as missing. You'll need to get those files from a 64-bit computer, preferably one running the same version of Windows as you are on the broken computer (which according to your log file is Windows 7 x64).

Hi Wim – Usually, that error about the side-by-side configuration being incorrect is caused by the Visual C++ Redistributable, not the .NET Framework. It might help to try to uninstall Messenger, then re-download and re-install it. It might also help to download and install the Visual C++ Redistributable. I'm not sure the exact version of the Visual C++ Redistributable you would need though. What version of Messenger do you have on your computer?

This tool is great! It solved an on-going issue that I was unable to resolve over a period of a year.

I have for more than one year problems with update .NET Update version from 2.0 to 3.5.

I have read a lot to solve it but with no success. Of course I have tried to uninstall all my old .NET but I didn’t fulfill uninstall all and therefore it has been impossible for me to run my computer well.

Hi Jay – I suggest trying to use the normal uninstall process from the Add/Remove Programs control panel first, and then trying the cleanup tool only if the normal uninstall process fails for some reason.

Does this clean rapair tool get rid of the JIT debugger error? I have been trying to figure out ways to get rid of it but nothing really has worked and I was wondering if this tool could help me with my problem. Help would be much appricated

Hi Chad Greiner – A JIT debugger error could be caused by the .NET Framework, or it could be caused by a problem in the application itself. It is hard to say whether or not running the cleanup tool + re-installing the .NET Framework will help for that type of error.

Hi Michael – It looks like the .NET Framework 4 uninstall is failing on your computer because it is having trouble finding one of the hotfixes that were previously installed. This is the error that I see just before it fails:

I'd suggest using the steps and the cleanup tool listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to fully remove the .NET Framework 4 and then try to re-install it.

You don't have to worry about the posts where I talk about the .NET Framework as an OS component. There is not currently a version of Windows that includes the .NET Framework 4 as an OS component, so that information is not applicable in your scenario.

Hi Dee – Error code 66a means "The upgrade patch cannot be installed by the Windows Installer service because the program to be upgraded may be missing, or the upgrade patch may update a different version of the program. Verify that the program to be upgraded exists on your computer and that you have the correct upgrade patch."

Usually, this error means that you're trying to install an update for a product that isn't actually installed on your computer. What exact product are you seeing this error for?

Hi Aaron, this seems to be a nightmare – I'm not very computer literate so I'm no doubt going to ask the same questions as everyone else again!

Every time I turn my computer off it tries to install an update for Net framework 4 – KB2446708 and fails.

I tried to look for it in my programmes list in the control panel uninstall/repair section in order to try a repair on the file but it does not seem to be installed, well I can't find it on the list anyway, what does this mean? Do I find it and install it to allow the update or ignore it etc etc???

Hi Wayne – Is this update failing to download or failing to install? If it is failing to download, then I'd suggest trying to download it and install it manually instead of letting Windows Update try to download it for you to see if that will help. If it is failing to install, then I'd suggest using the steps and the cleanup tool listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to remove the .NET Framework 1.1, then reinstall the .NET Framework 1.1, 1.1 SP1 and the update that is currently failing on your computer.

After my computer got cut off from the power because of a storm, it's been telling me the sortkey.nlp or dependencies couldn't be found when I try and boot up the catalyst control center. i've tried everything from uninstalling to reinstalling, the cleanup tool, reinstalling CCC, installing a windows system readiness tool, and sfc /scannow. nothing seems to work. I copied the log form the setup verification here. cid-9c0c2060a4c148ae.skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx I was wondering if you could help! Thanks

Hi Sabrina – The log file you uploaded is from the .NET Framework 4, and it doesn't show any errors. Can you please also try to verify the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and see if that reports any errors? If it does, please upload a copy of that log file so I can take a look.

What I'm expecting to see in the log is one or more missing files. You might be able to copy the missing files from another Windows 7 computer if you have one avaiable. If you don't, then you might have to repair/re-install Windows 7 to solve this type of error.

Hi Beth Cohen – The .NET Framework 4 is designed to allow you to install and run it side-by-side with other versions of the .NET Framework. There is no need to uninstall any other versions of the .NET Framework before you try to install the .NET Framework 4. I'd suggest trying to download and install it from http://www.microsoft.com/…/details.aspx without using the cleanup tool and without uninstalling any previous versions of the .NET Framework.

Has there been some impolite abuse / unfair criticism / offensive language? I'm not defending such outrageous crimes – after all, we live in a Polite Society; where victims must smile or else their exploiters cannot possibly be expected to assist – but one can only hope you accept that rude people, on occasion, are responding very disproportionately to unprovoked assault / attacks / offence.

I only now realise, because I'm exhausted and mildly retarded, that this will be in the "moderation queue" as well.

Hi Jonny Vincent – I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand your post. Several years ago, I had to turn on moderation for my blog comments because I was getting flooded with advertising spam posts created by bots. Since then, the blog server software has gotten much better at filtering those out, and I turned moderation back off. Your comment should have appeared immediately after you posted it (although you probably have to refresh the post to see it).

Did you have any specific problems or questions related to the content of my blog that I can help with?

Hi Ferguson – I'd suggest using the steps and the cleanup tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to remove the .NET Framework 4, then re-install the .NET Framework 4, then try again to install these updates.

Your tool is the best. I've been looking for ways to get .net framework as when I was installing it, there was a thunderstorm outside and i had a 3 second blackout. Part of .net framework was installed and part wasn't. Yeah…. I LOVE YOUR TOOL! 😛

Visual Studio 2010 would not work until I used this software to remove NET.Framework. I couldn't open a project. Once I reloaded VS 2010 in repair mode and it now works great. Too bad Microsoft can't think of these things before they sell defective software to a captive public.

Aaron Stebner, you ROCK. Thank you for keeping my trusty ThinkPad going strong. I'm pretty handy with most fixes, but this most fundamental issue had me frustrated for 2 straight days. Was seriously considering throwing me laptop against the wall… but then I found your site. Thank you, sir!

Prior to the events described below, no version of .NET Framework appeared in "Add/Remove Programs" window. Don't know whether .NET Framework (any version) was either (1) previously installed but then uninstalled, or (2) was never installed on this computer.

Attempt to install an application program aborted because it needed at least .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 installed, and it recommended that I manually install version 3.5.

I assume the tool stopped when it encountered whatever the problem was, so that the last log entries are sufficient to disclose it. If not, I'll post the entire log either here or wherever it is convenient for you.

Hi Arch – I'm sorry for the hassles that this issue is causing for you. Could you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to collect all of your .NET Framework setup log files, upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), then reply back here and post a link I can use to download your log files and take a closer look? Please also upload the full log file from the cleanup tool so I can look at that as well.

The uploaded "NFrm_lgs" file is a ZIP file that contains (1) all folders and files extracted from the "vslogs.cab" file, and (2) the "cleanup_main.log" file.

BTW, where is the "cleanup_main.log" file located? In Windows Explorer, using "Search" on My Computer failed to find it. I had to open the .NET Framework Cleanup Tool, click "View Log" and then save the log file opened in Notepad.

Hi Arch – Thanks for uploading your log files. I see what is happening now. The .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 attempts to install the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 behind the scenes. .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 setup attempts to uninstall any previous version of the .NET Framework 2.0 that it finds installed on your computer. That uninstall process is failing on your computer. The cleanup tool also tries to uninstall it, and it failed in the same way. However, after attempting the normal uninstall, it proceeds to do a surgical uninstall, and it looks like that step succeeded and the tool reported failure due to the original uninstall failure.

I think your computer is in a state now where it is ready to try again to install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. Hopefully it will succeed when you try it this time.

In the future, in case you need them, you can find the cleanup tool log files in the %temp% directory on your computer.

A Critical Update to .NET Framework v2.0 failed to install so I raised a case with Microsoft Support. The advice they gave me is the same as you have provided – same removal tool, but less accompanying information. The instructions you provided will be useful if there's a hitch.

Do I still need to install the components for .Net Framework 1.1 and .Net Framework 1.1 SP1 before re-trying the Windows Update for NET Framework 3.5 SP1? Your reply seems to indicate it's not necessary, but I just want to double-check to avoid making a mistake.

After using the cleanup tool, do I need to install the component for .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 per KB923100 before applying the Windows Update, or does the Windows Update (KB951847) itself install the component for NET Framework 3.5 SP1 called for by KB923100?

Any further help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks also for the location of the cleanup tool log file. When I saw your answer, it jogged my memory that I had seen it before in the tool's documentation. I'm embarrassed to say that I had completely forgotten it.

Hi Arch – In most cases, it isn't necessary to re-install the .NET Framework 1.1 in addition to the components of the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. I wrote a blog post at blogs.msdn.com/…/9557946.aspx that explains this scenario in more detail if you're interested.

The Windows Update that was failing for you includes the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and an additional set of updates that apply after installing SP1. Now that you've fully removed the .NET Framework 3.5, I'd suggest installing the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 yourself, then visiting Windows Update to have it install the additional set of updates for you.

However, a new problem has appeared when trying to install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 from the "dotnetfx35.exe" file downloaded from the "Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1" webpage at http://www.microsoft.com/…/details.aspx

Double-clicking the "dotnetfx35.exe" file opens the "Open File – Security Warning" window, and clicking "Run" in that window then opens an alert window that says "Extraction Failed" "Unable to find a volume with enough disk space for file extraction."

On the "Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1" webpage, the "System requirements" shows "Hard Disk: Up to 500 MB of available space may be required".

In Windows Explorer window, for the "C:" drive, there is "Disk free space: 610 MB" displayed.

I downloaded another copy of the "dotnetfx35.exe" file in case the first was corrupted. However, the second copy produced the same result.

There seems to be more than enough disk space available, so why is the extraction failing?

I also put the "dotnetfx35.exe" file on a different computer (Windows XP MCE 2005 SP3 32-bit) that showed only 77 MB of free disk space on the "C:" drive, and the file started to extract its contents before I cancelled it. I don't understand.

Hi Arch – I don't know how to explain that extraction failure. Can you please try to save dotnetfx35.exe to your desktop, then run dotnetfx.exe /x and see if it will let you manually extract it to a custom location. If that works, you can proceed to run setup.exe from the location that you extract it to.

I really messed up the framework by trying all sorts of different methods. Ran your tool and it seems to have removed it, but I am concerned at all of the exit code 1 messages. Here is the final section which leads me to wonder if this worked properly. Any help is greatly appreciated. This ms.net framework thing is about the most insidieous thing that MS has come up with yet!

Hi Scott – You posted a partial log file, but it doesn't list the actual cause of the cleanup tool failing in this scenario. I'd suggest trying to install the version of the .NET Framework that you need, and if it still fails, please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to collect all of your setup log files, post the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and then reply back here and provide a link that I can use to download your log files and take a closer look.

Aaron, I got it to work. Just had to run in a few times in succession to get rid of the files. I was able to reinstall the software that first added framework to my system and everything seems to be working okay now.

Thanks, your utility is the only thing that worked and I have been fighting with the system for a week.

Hi Camilo Abner Alvarez – The .NET Framework 1.1 is installed as a part of the OS on Windows Server 2003. The .NET Framework cleanup tool does not allow you to try to remove versions of the .NET Framework that are installed as a part of the OS.

hello AARON.. Can you help me please . I accidentally remove or uninstall .NET framework 4 on my computer .. will you please help me out on this .. PLEASE !! how can i bring it back ..? help 🙁 When I tried to install the software from Microsoft it says I already have version 4 but it was complete removed in my computer . I'm running Windows 7. HELP.

this app was an absolute godsend. my main windows profile got corrupted, and so after making a new one, most of my microsoft programs were messed up, .net being one of them. the lack of a working .net framework meant i couldn't reinstall anything that depended on on, and i could not repair or uninstall the messed up .net because, i'm assuming, it was looking for files that were part of the corrupted user profile. your app solved all of my problems. thank you.

I HAVE TRIED THREE TIMES TO GET HELP ON INSTALLING TURBO TAX ON MY COMPUTER. MY ORDER #TAR11YWO46926560004. IT ALWAYS GIVES ME AN ERROR MESSAGE AND WILL NOT DOWNLOAD. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN 10 YEARS WITH TURBO TAX THAT I EVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE PROGRAM. I AM NOT COMPUTER LITERATE SO ALL THESE FIXES MEAN NOTHING TO ME AS I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE TELLING ME. HOW ABOUT A NEW DISC?

Hi Don – I'm sorry for the hassles that this issue is causing for you. However, I work for Microsoft, not for Intuit, so I'm not able to provide you with a replacement disc for TurboTax. I'd suggest contacting the TurboTax technical support team for help with this issue.

I renamed the log file and ran the update again. It created another log file and had the same error. SO it was sure that GUID 5e32d93a8b7950009859f6477b4ff9 is a common GUID for this particular update.

I extracted the Windows patch as per support.microsoft.com/…/262841 to a new folder on C: and renamed that folder to 5e32d93a8b7950009859f6477b4ff9. No this path “c:5e32d93a8b7950009859f6477b4ff9NDP20SP2-KB979909.msp 3” was valid

Hi Daslicht – Can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to collect all of your setup log files, post the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and then reply back here and provide a link that I can use to download your log files and take a closer look?

Hi Karen – Yes, the cleanup tool will run on Windows 7. It will not allow you to remove versions of the .NET Framework that are installed as a part of Windows 7 though (the .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5).

Hi Jacob – Usually, this type of error means that there is something wrong with the .NET Framework and it needs to be repaired. The exact repair steps depend on what version of Windows you are running and what version(s) of the .NET Framework are installed on your computer. Can you please let me know what version of Windows you're running and what versions of the .NET Framework that you currently have installed, and I'll try to come up with some steps for you to try?

I've put the tool into an SCCM task sequence which worked fine on our test boxes. We tried to run it against a couple of QA machines and we got an error. The error was "Cannot create another system semaphore. (Error: 00000064; Source: Windows)". Have you seen this before or can you offer any suggestions ?

Hi Woodneyuk – I haven't heard of this, but I also haven't ever tried to run this tool in these conditions. Does the tool get far enough to be able to create any log files in the cases where it fails? Also, do you see any other errors or warnings in the application event logs?

Hi Luke – There are a couple of cases that I've run into in the past where the cleanup tool got stuck while trying to delete registry keys due to permissions issues. In this case, I think you'll need to kill the cleanup tool, run regedit.exe and manually delete the following registry key:

Hi Luke – Does the error give you any more details about why it can't delete this key? For example, are you getting an access denied error or something like that?

What version of Windows do you have on this computer? It might be possible to manually update permissions to take ownership of this key and then try to delete it again, but the steps to do that vary depending on what version of Windows is on this computer. You can find instructions for how to do this by doing a web search for something like "registry take ownership" and following instructions that you can find there.

Aaron, I had a mess on my hands for a long time in my XP-NET-Visual Studio setup until I ran across this while searching after the latest constant failing update. Thanks much, this really took care of my problem. Cleaned the troubled .NET setup out, and I got a clean and good install afterward. Hooray!

Hi Jay – It isn't the exact same issue, but I'd suggest taking a look at the steps at blogs.msdn.com/…/10288684.aspx to see if they help narrow down which application is causing this error message to appear.

Hi Aaron, Just like to say thanks.I like many others have been having multiple recurring updates.The cleanup tool worked like a charm.I can now go to windows update and find nothing to do.Thanks for your time and effort,cheers Simon..

I give up; don't know if my LONG rant posted 'cause don't see it here & I didn't "sign in". I just also read your UPDATE BLOG. Had forgotten to. Also forgot to mention I Did perform the 2 steps Microsoft says to do very carefully before resorting to reading all this stuff about the Cleanup Tool.

I'm sure now I'm wayyyy over my head; I'll just have to get hubby to take me to Best Buy and Make the dummy geeks refer to your blog B4 Touching my precious, never a problem before Laptop. Let them earn their $

I mean, all I want to do is install Office on the darn thing. I'm just to tired & ill to do this. I feel like I'm back in Computer College but years ahead of myself / don't understand sooo much of the terminology you all seem to just know.

I'm sorry to have bothered you, that is unless you did see my 1st msg and have a fairly simple fix. You are a genius though. K

If none of the above help, you might need to repair/re-install Windows to fix this type of error.

Before you do any of that, I'd suggest trying to use WordPad to create the resume so that you won't be blocked while trying to solve the Office installation issue. It comes with Windows, and it can be used to create and view some types of Word documents.

Hi biziengine – It looks like there is a problem with the file permissions for some of the .NET Framework files that is causing the cleanup tool to be unable to remove them. I'd suggest trying to manually delete those files using Windows Explorer to see if that helps. If it doesn't work either, you might need to reset the permissions for those files. You can do that manually in Windows Explorer, or you can use a tool like the one described at blogs.msdn.com/…/solving-setup-errors-by-using-the-subinacl-tool-to-repair-file-and-registry-permissions.aspx.

I got an issue installing visual studio 2008 in my desktop win 7 64 bit.always getting error when its installing .NetFramework 3.5 SP1 shows that i need to turn on/off Windows Feature. I am getting error message when im trying to turn on or off .Net Framework 3.5 saying not all function blah blah..I already try running it in command prompt and i found out that im getting error 14098 saying that its corrupt. already running sfc/scannow and was able to fix the registry then install windows update .net 4.0. When im trying to install visual studio 2008 still getting same error message that i need to turn on windows feature and getting same error message in cmd error 14098. When i run sfc/scannow again it shows that it didn't find any integrity violations..

After struggling for week, i.e. many installs, removals, and general thrashing about, to get .net installed so I could support the catalyst program that controls my graphics card I came across your blog. After using the cleanup tool followed by installing the 3.5SPI I am now in business. Thank you ever so much! PS: I much prefer Linux which I run on my other computers and the other half of this. I only booted into Windows today to see if I would survive the July 9th Big Brother Internet crackdown. Seems everything is okay. Again, Thanks! Rob

Hi Julius – Error 14098 means that the Windows component store is corrupt. It might help to run the System Update Readiness Tool to see if it can correct that type of error. You can find that tool at support.microsoft.com/…/947821.

If that doesn't help, you might need to repair/re-install Windows to fix this type of problem.

Thankyou for the permanent solution to my dot net update woes. Have been putting up with 4 windows dot net updates failing for months. Your info regarding the removal tool has cleared the way for the resumption of successful updates.

I have been trying to install acad 2012 on my pc a horrible experience, all time installation process launh a message with legend: net framework 4.0 is not installed, please install…. bla, bla, after that I installed net frameword 4, it is shown on control panel, but I am not able to install acad.

Hi Metro23 – It sounds like this could be a problem with the detection logic used by this program to determine whether or not the .NET Framework is installed on the computer. Do you have any problems with any other .NET Framework 4 applications? If not, then I'd suggest taking a look on the web site for this program's manufacturer to see if they have any known issues and workarounds related to .NET Framework 4 install state detection.

Hi NigelH – Usually, the cleanup tool is able to remove enough of the .NET Framework to allow you to proceed with re-installing, even if you see an error message like the one you posted. I'd suggest trying to re-install the .NET Framework to see if it will succeed now. Normally, I suggest starting with the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, then installing the .NET Framework 1.1, 1.1 SP1 and any 1.1 security updates afterwards.

Hi Jack – Windows Vista includes the .NET Framework 2.0 as a part of the OS, and you cannot uninstall it or re-install it separately from the OS itself. For that .NET Framework 2.0 error that you're seeing, I'd suggest trying the following:

Make sure that your computer has the .NET Framework 2.0 registry keys that are listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/3260076.aspx. If any are missing, you will need to re-add them manually and then reboot your computer for them to take effect.

Hi NigelH – The cleanup tool will prompt you to reboot if one is needed. If you aren't prompted, it shouldn't be necessary to reboot before re-installing the .NET Framework. If you'd like to be safe, it wouldn't hurt to reboot in between running the cleanup tool and running .NET Framework setup though.

Hi Sed2 – Windows 7 includes the .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 as a part of the OS, and there shouldn't be any need to install any older versions of the .NET Framework to resolve this type of error. Do you see this error only for this game, or do you see it for other applications as well? If it is only this game, then it is possible that there is some kind of problem with the way that the game is detecting the .NET Framework 4, and in that case, you might need to search on the game manufacturer's web site to see if they have any known issues or patches.

Can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to collect all of your setup log files, upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and then reply back here and provide a link that I can use to download your log files and take a closer look?

Also, can you please take a screenshot of the error message that you see and post that somewhere so I can take a look at it as well?

1)So you say all the older versions are still there somewhere (even though i selected to remove all with the clean up tool)

2) I see the error only for this game, its in fact an little application that runs the game. I tried other apps on my PC and all work as always.

3) My friend runs it on his computer without problems. His OS is Windows 7 , 64 bit.

4) i will the log info in the next post. Btw about setup: while i was installing the game i think ui got the same orror when the direct X setup runned.(the error window appeared and the directX setup stopped)

Hi Sed2 – From the screenshot you posted and the logs you sent me in email, it looks like you're running into the issue that I wrote about at blogs.msdn.com/…/10110053.aspx. There are some troubleshooting steps listed at the bottom of that post that I'd recommend that you try to see if they help in this scenario.

Hi David Lynch – That switch is very dangerous to use because it can break versions of the .NET Framework that are installed as a part of the OS, and because of that, it is not documented or officially supported. Can you please elaborate on what scenarios you are running into where you think you need that type of functionality?

Hi Quann – The .NET Framework cleanup tool does not allow you to try to remove versions of the .NET Framework that are installed by Windows. If you've got Windows 7 on your computer, then it includes the .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5, and the cleanup tool will not allow you to try to remove them because they are a part of Windows 7.

Hi Zode – The cleanup tool does not allow you to try to remove versions of the .NET Framework that are installed by Windows. If you've got Windows 7 on your computer, then it includes the .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5, and the cleanup tool will not allow you to try to remove them because they are a part of Windows 7.

Hi Stevie JJJ – I don't know for sure, but I would guess that this error means that Windows Live Essentials is trying to install the .NET Framework 4 but it is failing for some reason. To test that theory, you could try to download and install the .NET Framework 4 separately by using the link at http://www.microsoft.com/…/details.aspx.

If the .NET Framework 4 fails to install, then please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to collect all of your setup log files, upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and then reply back here and provide a link that I can use to download your log files and take a closer look.

Hi Bill Woo – I'm really sorry to hear about the hassles you've run into with VS 2012 uninstall and install. I've posted a suggestion in reply to your forum post, and hopefully it'll help get things unstuck on your computer so you can start using VS 2012.

However the fix indicated by Microsoft does not installs on my system as I get the error message "The upgrade path cannot be installed by the Windows Installer service because the program to be upgraded may be missing or… “And it is understandable as the tool was supposed to be an upgrade for .NET 2.0. I do not have that installed, nor can I install it as it is a part of my Windows 7 installation.

I tried removing 3.5 (Windows features) and 4.0 and then running your tool. It appears as it is cleaning out everything EXCEPT the dreaded 2.0.

There might be a bug in the Cleanup Tool on 64 bit operating systems for .NET 3.5. It says it deletes the registry key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftNET Framework SetupNDPv3.5] but does not which then leads to problems reinstalling.

Hi NC – The .NET Framework 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 are installed as a part of the OS on Windows 7. The .NET Framework 3.0 and 3.5 can be disabled and enabled by using the Windows Features control panel, but the .NET Framework 2.0 is always present and cannot be disabled or enabled. It also cannot be patched by using the hotfix that you found because that hotfix is only applicable to the MSI-based version of the .NET Framework 2.0.

The only way to patch the .NET Framework 2.0 on Windows 7 is to get an OS hotfix. I looked around and couldn't find an OS hotfix for that issue, but it might help to try to visit Windows Update on the computer that is having this problem and trying to download and install the latest .NET Framework updates to see if that helps resolve this issue.

Hi Grumpybum1 – I haven't run into a case yet where the cleanup tool failed to remove that registry key. What version of Windows are you using in your scenario? Also, can you zip and upload the logs created by the cleanup tool to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), then reply back here and post a link I can use to download your log file and take a closer look?

After reinstallation of .net 1.1 to 3.5 and careful and methodical uninstalls of hotfixes and versions in reverse order, the application of this tool took care of the constant nagging of Windows update to install a Security patch to .Net Framework 2.0 (KB928365). My system is stable. Thanks a million.

Hi Leonardo Cesar Moreira CRF/SC-7046 – I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you want to know what will happen if you uninstall the .NET Framework? If so, I'd suggest looking at the blog post at blogs.msdn.com/…/10219046.aspx to see if it helps answer this question.

If none of the above help, you might need to repair/re-install Windows to fix this type of error. It might also help to post a question on one of the Windows forums to see if someone there has any additional suggestions for you to try before you resort to re-installing Windows.

Hi KesKeCé – MSXML is a separate component than the .NET Framework, and I don't think that this error is necessarily being caused by the .NET Framework on your computer. I'd suggest trying to download and install it separately from Windows Update to see if it gives you any more useful error information. You can download it from http://www.microsoft.com/…/details.aspx.

I'd also suggest looking for log files that might be created by this update to see if they contain any better information about the cause of the error. You might find the logs in %temp% and there might also be some information in %windir%WindowsUpdate.log.

Hi Carolyn Schneider – I'm sorry, but only your comment about your OS being Vista was posted, but it sounds like an earlier comment might have been lost somewhere. Could you please describe the problem that you're seeing in more detail so I can see if I am able to help?

I installed Advanced System Optimizer in Windows 8(x86). It automatically downloaded & installed .net framework v3.5. And there is no option to uninstall the .net framework. If i want to remove ASO and uninstall the .net framework v3.5, can i use this tool? Will it remove successfully?

Hi peterpi – It sounds like an XML file required by HealthVault is either missing or has incorrect data in it. I can't tell from this error message which XML file it is referring to though. It might help to try to repair/re-install HealthVault. If that doesn't help, then you might want to post a question on the HealthVault forums at social.technet.microsoft.com/…/HealthVaultCustomer to see if someone there can provide any additional suggestions.

Hi does not uninstall .net – The cleanup tool does not allow you to remove a version of the .NET Framework that is installed as a part of the Windows operating system. What exact version of Windows is on your computer (Windows 7, Windows 8, etc), and what version(s) of the .NET Framework are you trying to fix?

Thanks for posting this. I attempted to use the tool to repair .Net 4.5 on Windows 8, but realized that the cleanup tool doesn't remove versions included as a part of the OS. I'm having significant issues with .Net 4.0 and 4.5 and would like to repair them. Any advice?

If none of the above help, you might need to repair/re-install Windows to fix this type of error. It might also help to post a question on one of the Windows forums to see if someone there has any additional suggestions for you to try before you resort to re-installing Windows.

Hi Don – Error code 1641 is a Windows Installer error code that means that the install/uninstall operation was successful and a reboot is required. You can find more information about that error code at support.microsoft.com/…/290158.

You should be able to safely proceed with removal and re-install of the .NET Framework after getting that error code.

Hi Jim – I'd suggest using the cleanup tool and the steps listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to remove all versions of the .NET Framework from your computer, then re-install them, then try again to visit Windows Update and install the latest .NET Framework updates.

Why should we even need this tool? Can you imagine Apple having something like this? Can I reinstall 4 and up and forget about 1.1 & 2 – why is the versioning so FU*(^ed up? Windows update should fix this automatically!!!!

I was just wondering what happens after I've used the cleanup tool, your post makes mention of the fact that I will need to repair my other versions of .Net framework as the cleanup deletes shared files, how precisely do I repair after using the tool?

I don't wanna remove version 3.5 from my laptop if it'll create bigger problems for myself in the long run.

Hi Thomas – The cleanup tool is not designed as a replacement for the normal uninstall process from the Windows control panel. It is designed to fix broken .NET Framework installations (which typically involves an uninstall immediately followed by a re-install).

If you are planning to use the tool to cleanup the .NET Framework 3.5, you should proceed with a re-install of the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 afterwards.

If you only want to uninstall the .NET Framework 3.5 and not re-install it, then you should use the control panel to uninstall it instead of using the cleanup tool.

I have read pages of your previous blogs and not sure if my problem is the same or different. I have Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3

I had Windows Updates turned on auto and all updates installed successfully. However the same updates keep coming back. There are now 11x updates, most being for .NET Framework, 2.0 but also 3.0 & 3.5. The system then crashed and had a computer guy replace the hardrive and re-install everything but the updates still just keep coming back. As soon as they are downloaded and all say ok with no errors, they come back again as new updates 5-mins later. Have now turned off authomatic updates. Also tried uninstalling them all and re-installing but made no difference. Any ideas?

Hi Keith – It might help to use steps like the ones in the knowledge base article at support.microsoft.com/…/971058 to reset the Windows Update components on your computer.

If that doesn't help, then I'd suggest using the tools and steps at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to fully remove and then re-install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. After re-installing, please try to visit Windows Update again to install the latest updates for the .NET Framework.

I have Win XP Pro SP3. MS update was showing that .net framework 3.5 sp1 and several other .net updates needed to be installed. all of the .net updates fail to install. I get Installation Failure Error Code: 0x80070663 on the 3.5 sp1

I have run the .net cleanup tool to attempt to fix the problem and there were no errors during that process. i rebooted and reinstalled the .net frameworke 3.5 SP1 and there were nor errors during that process. But now when I run MS update it says Checking for the latest updates for your computer… but never finds anything. At the task bar by the clock the yellow update indicator shows that updates are ready to install. there are no .net framework updates in that install set just many security updates for windows xp and 1 cumulative updates for ie8 and 2 activex killbits and one update for Windows XP KB2863058. all of those updates also fail to install.

kb2863058 fails with Installation Failure Error Code: 0x80070005 but i am the admin on this computer. I ran subinacl anyway and the reset.bat but still get the same error code. everything is being tried with eset endpoint antivirus disabled. there are no other antivirus, anti spyware or anti malware products installed or running.

I have a new Windows 8 computer. I installed an application and was running it successfully. After the 8.1 update the program wouldn't work. When I tried uninstalling and reinstalling, I get the following error. "The installation of the Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1 failed. This is most likely caused by the version of Internet Explorer installed on this computer. Please make sure the version 5.01 or greater is installed before continuing.

The details of the installation can be viewed at C:UsersDebbiAppDataLocalTempnetfx.log. The error code returned was 1603.

The program is an older program but successfully works on my 8.1 laptop…..

Hi Debbi – Can you please upload the file named C:UsersDebbiAppDataLocalTempnetfx.log to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and then reply back here and provide a link that I can use to download your log file and take a closer look?

Hi Rob – The error that you’re seeing from the .NET Framework update is 0x00000663, which means that the patch package could not be opened. In that scenario, I’d suggest trying to run the .NET Framework repair tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/10359320.aspx, and then try to manually download and install this .NET Framework update from http://www.microsoft.com/…/details.aspx instead of letting Windows Update install it for you. I’m hoping that will succeed, but if it does fail, you should get more detailed error information if you run it manually because Windows Update suppresses most of the error UI from updates that it tries to install, and that can make it harder to diagnose failures in some cases.

The packages that are failing with access denied errors appear to be having trouble with the following registry keys:

HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInternet SettingsUser Agent

HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInternet SettingsZones

If the subinacl tool isn’t helping in those scenarios, you might need to try to manually update the permissions for those registry keys. You can find instructions for doing that at support.microsoft.com/…/310426.

I am having an issue with an error message (1022) I receive in the win7 64bit application event log concerning .net runtime. I am using .net 4. I have tried removing all patches, un-install / reinstall and just tried the cleanup tool. In all cases the installs appear to run clean without error messages and event log is clean. If I then reboot I get the following error right after boot and then every hour or so there after. The same error is occurring on multiple machines. The following was taken from a freshly cleanup tooled machine with base .net 4 install and no patches.

Hi Rob W Smith – This looks like an issue with some kind of profiling tool that you have on your computer as opposed to an issue with the .NET Framework. I'd suggest looking in MSConfig to see if you have any profiling tools configured to run when your computer boots, and turn it off if you want to avoid this type of error. You can find instructions for using MSConfig at blogs.msdn.com/…/disabling-services-with-msconfig-to-work-around-setup-failures.aspx.

Hi Aaron – Thanks for the assistance. Your suggestion that the error not being .Net and using MSConfig isolated the issue to a third party tool. I guess I was too focused on the error coming from .net to look elsewhere. It would be nice if the .net error message had mentioned the calling routine in a user readable format. Thanks again for the assistance.

Hi Rob W Smith – I'm glad you were able to solve this problem. I think the error message is coming from the profiling tool too as opposed to coming from the .NET Framework though, so any changes to the error message text or formatting would need to come from the tool manufacturer.

Hi A Ali – The error code that you are seeing means "A download manager operation failed because the download manager was unable to connect the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)." It might help to try to reset Windows Update components using the information in the knowledge base article at support.microsoft.com/…/971058.

Wow! I love this blog!! YOU ARE THE BEST!! Ive been having this problem for so long with little help or understanding from Microsoft. Im no computer genius- but it doesnt get any better than this! So, Please tell me you can help. Well i had 16 updates in my windows action center needing me to address. Several times i have run these updates attemps with no sucess of this .NET Framework thing error!! Ok here goes the error details for the updates trying to run that i keep getting:

Hi imanafif – Can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to collect all of your setup log files, upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and then reply back here and provide a link that I can use to download your log files and take a closer look?

Hi London – I'd suggest trying to use the cleanup tool to fully remove all versions of the .NET Framework from your computer, then re-install the versions you need, then try again to visit Windows Update to install the latest updates for the .NET Framework.

A couple of the other errors that are listed in your comment indicate that some of the files that Windows Update downloaded are corrupt or don't have valid signatures. You might also want to try to use the steps listed at support.microsoft.com/…/971058 to reset Windows Update components on your computer.

Hi A Ali – The error 1290 that you see when trying to start the BITS service means that there is something wrong with the service registration. That service is required for Windows Update to function correctly. However, I don't have enough expertise to be able to provide steps for you to use to try to repair that service. I'd suggest posting a question on the Windows forums at answers.microsoft.com/…/windows to see if someone there can help further in this scenario.

A security issue has been identified in a Microsoft software product that could affect your system. You can help protect your system by installing this update from Microsoft. For a complete listing of the issues that are included in this update, see the associated Microsoft Knowledge Base article. After you install this update, you may have to restart your system.

Hi Renee – I wouldn't suggest leaving an unpatched version of the .NET Framework installed on your computer. I'd recommend doing one of the following:

If you don't need the .NET Framework 1.1, you can uninstall it and leave the newer versions of the .NET Framework installed.

If you do need the .NET Framework 1.1, you can use the steps and tools listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to remove the .NET Framework 1.1 and re-install it, then install the .NET Framework 1.1 and the latest .NET Framework 1.1 updates.

For the .NET Framework issue, can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to collect all of your setup log files, upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com), and then reply back here and provide a link that I can use to download your log files and take a closer look?

Hi greg from tremont – Error code 1603 is a generic error that means that setup failed, but it doesn't give any more detailed information about why it failed. I'd suggest contacting TurboTax technical support to see if they can help you examine the setup log files created by TurboTax setup and narrow down the cause of the failure further.

After clean install, I disable .Net 3.5.1 feature in Windows 7 Professional SP1 x64, used your tool to clean up .net remains and, after that, installed the latest framework (4.5.1). I'm not going to use previous frameworks, if needed – will put compatibility "app.exe.config" where needed.

Windows updates were turned off from the beginning.

But when I started WU service, it served me .Net 3.5.1 updates (what I removed, as I thought).

How the hell is that possible??? I only want to see .Net 4.5.1 updates, and not the older.

When I install ie11 (without running WU before), I get only cumulative and other updates for ie11, not ie10. Why is it so different with framework? Can you fix your tool in such a way, that it could remove any records from 3.5.1, which WU can possibly find?

To try to fix this error, I'd suggest trying to use the tools and steps listed at blogs.msdn.com/…/8108332.aspx to fully remove the .NET Framework from your computer and then try to install it again and see if that helps.

Hi Johnny Mnemonic – Disabling the .NET Framework 3.5.1 feature in Windows 7 will only disable the .NET Framework 3.0 and 3.5 components, but the .NET Framework 2.0 components will still be enabled. Updates from Windows Update are named in a confusing way in some cases. In some cases, updates that are for the .NET Framework 3.5 family actually only target .NET Framework 2.0 components (because the .NET Framework 2.0 is a part of the .NET Framework 3.5 family).

Also, for reference, the .NET Framework cleanup tool does not permit removing any versions of the .NET Framework that are installed as a part of the OS.

Hi Wolf – I'm sorry for the continued hassles. Can you please re-run the tool to create a new vslogs.cab so I can see if the .NET Framework 4 is continuing to fail with the same error message in your most recent attempt?

Also, if you haven't yet, I'd suggest trying to install the .NET Framework 4.5.1 instead of the .NET Framework 4. The 4.5.1 version is a superset of the 4 version, and it contains some fixes that aren't in version 4. You can download the .NET Framework 4.5.1 installer at http://www.microsoft.com/…/details.aspx.

Hi Aaron, thanks for the great tools. I've used them well in the past.

I have been running into a problem when running certain programs. Nvidia experience was the first to show the problem. When trying to run it I got the this message in an error window "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000135). Click OK to close the application."

I wasn't bothered as I don't really need that program. Now when I try to start another program called inSSIDer4.exe I get the same message and it's starting to really annoy me. A quick google search suggested it was a problem with my .net framework install. I have installed the updated versions from micosoft (4.5.1). The message still appears. I used the framework cleanup tool and have also tried the framework repair tool, and tried a clean install of framework 4.5.1, but still this same message appears when running this program.

Would you have any advice or ideas on what i should be doing? Any help is much appreciated.

Hi Simon Gibson – It is possible that this type of problem is caused by the .NET Framework, but it could also be a problem with the application itself. I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer of the application to see if they have any known issues that sound similar to this and/or have any patches you can try.

You could also look in the application event log on your computer to see if there are any errors or warnings listed there that might help narrow down the root cause of this error further.

I’m running a 64-bit Windows 7 SP1 system. My problem is described more fully in a Technet Forum post. Two replies to the post have directly me to your blog, so I thought that I would summarise my problem and solicit any advice that you might have.

On the 15 November last, I installed the Mouse and Keyboard Center which, in turn, installed .NET Framework 4 Client Profile “under the covers”. And I have evidence that, in its turn, .NET Framework 4 Client Profile installed KB958488 “under the covers”.

I subsequently decided that I did not need the Mouse and Keyboard Center, so I uninstalled it and then uninstalled .NET Framework 4 Client Profile as well.

However, there are still directories and files in C:WindowsMicrosoft.NET which appear to be associated with .NET Framework 4. And there is also the question of the nature of KB958488. The KB article states that it is an update for .NET Framework 3.5.1. However, the properties of the files comprising KB958488 indicate that they belong to .NET Framework 4, and my update history describes KB958488 as “Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 Shared”.

I know that Windows 7 comes with .NET Framework 3.5.1. However, as far as possible, I would like to remove everything from my system specifically associated with .NET Framework 4. So, I propose to do the following:

However, I am very apprehensive about using the tool because of the caveat at the beginning of the User’s Guide, namely:

“This cleanup tool will delete shared files and registry keys used by other versions of the .NET Framework. If you run the cleanup tool, you will need to perform a repair/re-install for all other versions of the .NET Framework that are on your computer or they will not work correctly afterwards.”

I really don’t want to get into another cleanup after the cleanup! If there is a real possibility of this happening, I would rather just uninstall KB958488 and not use the cleanup tool at all.

If I don’t use the tool, could I simply delete the following two directories and their files which appear to belong to .NET Framework Client Profile 4.0.30319?

C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv4.0.30319

C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFramework64v4.0.30319

And could I simply delete the following four directories which were created at the same time that .NET Framework 4 Client Profile was installed and actually contain no files?

Hi Tiberius_Claudius – I wouldn't recommend manually deleting folders like you describe in your comment. I'd suggest using the Programs and Features control panel to uninstall the items named Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile and Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Extended (if it exists). Also, if you installed the .NET Framework 4.5, it will replace the .NET Framework 4 and also install files to the v4.0.30319 directory, so if your goal is to fully remove that directory, you'll need to uninstall that as well.

If c:windowsMicrosoft.NETassembly is empty, then you can delete the directory if you want to, but it also won't hurt anything to just leave it there. Before you delete it, please make sure that there aren't any hidden files there so you don't delete anything inadvertently.

KB 958488 appears to be a .NET Framework 3.5 update, not a .NET Framework 4 update. You can find uninstall information for that update at support.microsoft.com/…/958488.

Aaron, thank you for the reply. Perhaps my initial post was not clear for which I apologise.

When I installed the Mouse and Keyboard Center, as far as I am aware, only .NET Framework 4 Client Profile was pulled in automatically. I don’t believe that either .NET Framework 4 Extended or .NET Framework 4.5 was pulled in and I certainly haven’t installed them explicitly. And they don’t appear in Programs and Features in the Control Panel.

Furthermore, I have already uninstalled .NET Framework 4 Client Profile using Programs and Features, so it is no longer listed there. And yet, I still have two non-empty directories called v4.0.30319. That is why I asked whether I should use the cleanup tool or just simply delete the two directories and their files. Is there any other reason why I should not delete the two v4.0.30319 directories?

To me, KB958488 is a real enigma. I’m fairly certain it was pulled in automatically by .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. The two pieces of evidence I have is that it was installed around the same time that .NET Framework 4 Client Profile was installed and there are two WUSA entries in my Setup Event Log. The description of one is:

and the description of the other contains the same WUSA command and file path. So, if KB958488 is an update to .NET Framework 3.5, why was it pulled in by .NET Framework 4 Client Profile?

I think that I can safely uninstall KB958488 using Programs and Features in the Control Panel. If my system had needed it for any other reason, I think that Windows Update would have offered it explicitly.

I had bought a brand new Dell XPS 15 with Windows 8.1 Pro loaded on it.

I had loaded SQL 2012 Enterprise on it as well as MS Dynamics NAV 2013 R2.

Yesterday had I loaded MS Visual Studio 2013 Premier.

Since yesterday am I getting a SQL Studio Manager crash each time I try to attach any of my previous used SQL DBs.

When I ran the Debug had it pointed me to an error related to .Net Framework. I had noticed that yesterday while loading Visual Studio, had it loaded some newer versions / updates of .Net 4.5.1 into the Program Files as reported by the Control Panel.

I had uninstalled everything that had been loaded yesterday.

I had ran your Fix .Net programs, but with no improvement.

Due to the fact that .Net 4.5.1 is embedded in the OS, is uninstalling it, not an option.

Is there a special repair script that I need to run to force a re-install?

Hi Tiberius_Claudius – I wouldn't recommend removing any non-empty directories because there could be other installed programs that need the files. After you uninstalled the .NET Framework 4 client profile, which exact files were left behind in the v4.0.30319 directory?

I could be wrong about KB 958488. I based my previous reply on information in the knowledge base article, but there might also be cases where the .NET Framework 4 installs that update too. You should be safe to uninstall that update, and if it is needed by the .NET Framework 3.5, it'll end up getting re-offered by Windows Update later on.

Hi Stefan – The errors that you listed sound like they're specific to SQL Server and not more general problems with the .NET Framework itself. The second error is an access denied error when trying to modify a file under Program Files, so you might need to run SQL Server with elevated privileges to avoid that.

I'm not sure how to explain the first error, but I also don't have a lot of expertise in troubleshooting SQL Server configuration issues. I'd recommend posting a question about this issue on the SQL forum at social.msdn.microsoft.com/…/home to see if someone there can help.

The 9 files remaining in the Framework64v4.0.30319 directory have the same names as above, but there is additionally a subdirectory called SetupCache which, in turn, has a subdirectory called Client. Both of these subdirectories have no files (not even hidden or protected ones). All the directories, namely:

C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv4.0.30319

C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFramework64v4.0.30319

C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFramework64v4.0.30319SetupCache

C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFramework64v4.0.30319SetupCacheClient

were created at the same time that .NET Framework 4 Client Profile was installed.

And I have checked my registry; .NET Framework 4 or later is not installed on my system.

I can live with these directories and their files on my system if you think I ought to leave them alone. It is just my nature to want to tidy up after an uninstall if at all possible.

Hi Tiberius_Claudius – The log files and the SetupCache folder can be safely removed, but I'd suggest leaving the .tlb files. Those are being left behind intentionally because the way type library registration works can cause those files to still be referenced in the registry even after uninstalling the .NET Framework. Every version of the .NET Framework will leave those .tlb files behind after an uninstall because of that issue.

Aaron, It seems you have been getting a lot of comments about this, but i have need of your assistance. When trying to download a program,it pulls up a message stating this, "To run this application, you first must install one of the following versions of the .NET framework: v4.0.30319 Contact your application publisher for instructions about obtaining the appropriate version of the .NET Framework" Have any ideas on a safe place to download said framework? I'm at a total loss when it comes to this. Thanks

Hi Trey Roberts – The answer depends on what version of Windows you're running. If you are running Windows 7 or earlier, you can download and install the .NET Framework 4 from http://www.microsoft.com/…/details.aspx. If you're running Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, the .NET Framework 4 family comes installed as a part of Windows and you don't need to install it separately.

If you're seeing this type of error on Windows 8 or 8.1, there is a chance that the program that you're trying to install has a compatibility problem. In that case, I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer of the program or looking on their web site to see if they have any known issues or patches for Windows 8/8.1.

Hmm…, I see what you mean! I did a search on the string “v4.0.30319” throughout the whole registry and there are a number of references to both directories with that name, and to the .tlb files in those directories. I have to ask why is it not possible for the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile uninstaller to remove these references from the registry so that the two directories could be deleted. And, if I were to delete those two directories and their files, what would be the consequence of having references to non-existent directories and their files in the registry?

I’m very glad I was pointed at your blog now. In the past, whenever directories and files remain after I have uninstalled a product, and I know that nothing else uses those directories and files, I have just deleted them manually. I’ll be a little more circumspect in future.

In all your replies, you never mentioned your .NET Framework Cleanup Tool. I assume this is because you feel that it would not do any better that the .NET Framework 4 Client Profile uninstaller, or perhaps because using it might cause more problems than it solves?

One thought has crossed my mind. What would happen if I restored my system to a restore point created just before I installed the Mouse and Keyboard Center (which pulled in .NET Framework 4 Client Profile and KB958488)? Would that not remove all references in the registry to the v4.0.30319 directories and their .tlb files? I suspect that it would not remove the v4.0.30319 directories themselves, but they could then be deleted manually.

I have to say though that I’m not very keen on using system restore except in an emergency. It can introduce more “clutter” into the file system with duplicate directories and files. And I would have to reinstall all the Windows updates since that date.

Of course, I now wish that I had never installed the Mouse and Keyboard Center. The problem was that it was never described as such by Windows Update. I had just started using a new mouse and keyboard and what was offered by Windows Update appeared to be an update to the drivers for the mouse and keyboard.

Hi Tiberius_Claudius – The .NET Framework installer cannot remove the references to those .tlb files because there could be one or more other products installed that still needs them. The correct solution would be to re-register the .tlb files to point to the other product, but the .NET Framework installer doesn't have a way to know what other product it should use to re-register them.

It is hard to say what the exact consequences will be if you delete the .tlb files. It depends on what (if any) programs you try to run on your computer that need to use those files. The safest route is to just leave those files there.

I think it would work to use a system restore point too, but I agree with your comments about system restore. I tend to not be a fan of that feature either and typically only recommend it in case of an emergency.

I didn't mention the .NET Framework cleanup tool for your scenario because that tool isn't designed to be a replacement for the normal uninstall process. It is only intended as a last resort if you're having a .NET Framework installation problem and you want to remove any remnants of the .NET Framework and try to install again. It doesn't sound like you're intending to install the .NET Framework again, so that's why I didn't recommend the cleanup tool.

Hi Aaron. I think we have taken this problem just about as far as we can go.

After uninstalling the Mouse and Keyboard Center and .NET Framework 4 Client Profile, I completed the cleanup by uninstalling KB958488 two days ago. That was a bit of a non-event. It certainly removed KB958488 from the list of installed updates, and two events recording its removal were written to my Setup Event Log, but all the files associated with KB958488 were completely untouched! I’ve no explanation for that.

You are correct, I have no plans to install .NET Framework 4 or later. Windows 7 comes with .NET Framework 3.5 and, according to my registry, no component of .NET Framework 4 remains. (I can’t query the CLR version because I don’t have clrver.exe that comes with Visual Studio or the Windows SDK.)

I can’t help feeling that there must be some way of manually tidying up after uninstalling .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. But I know next to nothing about .NET Framework, .tlb files, registration, etc.. I see the situation from my simplistic point of view. The Mouse and Keyboard Center needed .NET Framework 4 Client Profile, so it was installed and the v4.0.30319 directories and their .tlb files came into existence. The Mouse and Keyboard Center now no longer exists, and I have not installed any other product/program since then, so what other product/program could possibly need the directories and .tlb files? But then there are all the references to those directories and files in the registry …

In my opinion, the Mouse and Keyboard Center should never have installed .NET Framework 4 Client Profile without warning me. I had previously hidden .NET Framework 4 Client Profile when it had been offered by Windows Update. If I had been warned by the Mouse and Keyboard Center installer that it needed .NET Framework 4 Client Profile, I would probably have cancelled the installation at that point and investigated the true nature of what Windows Update was offering me. (I believe I mentioned before that I was under the impression that Windows Update was offering me updated mouse and keyboard drivers after I had started to use a new mouse and keyboard.) Considering the nature and profile of .NET Framework, I think it is a bad mistake when a Microsoft product does not provide any warning when a component of .NET Framework is about to be installed.

So, in summary, I am now left with the remnants of .NET Framework 4 Client Profile and KB958488 in my file system and registry. Within the next few months, I have to upgrade my Office 2003 system because it is going out of service. I might take the opportunity to reinstall Windows 7 at that point, which will correct the problem. But then again, I might not. Enough crying over spilt milk!

It remains for me to extend my sincere thanks for your excellent and prompt support over the past week or so. Thank you.

Hi Aaron, thanks for the great tools. I've used them well in the past.

I have been running into a problem when running certain programs. Nvidia experience was the first to show the problem. When trying to run it I got the this message in an error window ""The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000135). Click OK to close the application.

I wasn't bothered as I don't really need that program. Now when I try to start another program called inSSIDer4.exe I get the same message and it's starting to really annoy me. A quick google search suggested it was a problem with my .net framework install. I have installed the updated versions from micosoft (4.5.1). The message still appears. I used the framework cleanup tool and have also tried the framework repair tool, and tried a clean install of framework 4.5.1, but still this same message appears when running this program.

Would you have any advice or ideas on what i should be doing? Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks, Simon.

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit"

You then quickly (thanks) replied,

"Aaron Stebner

12 Jan 2014 4:27 PM

Hi Simon Gibson – It is possible that this type of problem is caused by the .NET Framework, but it could also be a problem with the application itself. I'd suggest contacting the manufacturer of the application to see if they have any known issues that sound similar to this and/or have any patches you can try.

You could also look in the application event log on your computer to see if there are any errors or warnings listed there that might help narrow down the root cause of this error further."

The problem is that this error message is appearing for more than one program. It's appearing for inSSIDer4.exe, Nvidia experience and a screen dimming application. Every-time it's the same "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000135). Click OK to close the application." message. I tried the manufacturers for any issues like this but there are none they know of.

I can post a log from the NET Framework setup verification tool to see if you can spot anything wrong (if that helps?). Thanks Aaron and once again, any and all help is much appreciated.

Hi Tiberius_Claudius – I'm sorry for the hassles and lost time that this issue has caused for you. I agree that an installer should be transparent when it installs components such as the .NET Framework. Most products I've seen do a good job of this, but in cases like this, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch.

The leftover .tlb files could end up being used by other .NET Framework applications on your computer, even if they are not .NET 4 applications. The way those .tlb files are registered causes them to be shared by all .NET applications across all versions of the .NET Framework. If you want, you could try to rename them and leave them for a little while to see if you run into any errors, and if you don't, you could delete them later on.

Hi Simon Gibson – I received your log file via email and took a look. It is reporting that the file mscoree.dll is missing from c:windowssystem32 and c:windows syswow64. If that file is missing, it will definitely cause problems when you try to use .NET applications.

Here are the steps that I suggest that you try in order to restore this file:

If none of the above help, you might need to repair/re-install Windows to fix this type of error. It might also help to post a question on one of the Windows forums to see if someone there has any additional suggestions for you to try before you resort to re-installing Windows.

Earlier i used to have a pop up error when i started my computer which stopped after i selected "selective start up'.is there a problem if i keep working in this mode….one thing more i am not able to install few programs like bluestacks.The error message shows–could not load file or assembly"Accessibiilty Version=2.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies.The system cannot find the file specified.

Hi abhi – That error message means that one or more .NET Framework 2.0 file is missing from your computer. I'd suggest repairing/re-installing the .NET Framework to try to resolve that error. The steps that are required to repair/re-install depend on what version of Windows you have on your computer. Can you let me know what version of Windows you have and I can provide some repair steps for you to try.

Tried to use this tool (downloaded today) to remove .NET 4 Client Profile on a Vista Home laptop but to no avail. The cleanup.exe tool called by this product could not find the 'temporary' cleanup.ini file and so could not proceed. I was hoping the tool was a bit more intelligent and search out the various registry keys and so on without referring to anything like a file that could have been lost (in this case due to updating and then having to restore the OS a few versions earlier because later versions were corrupted by malware). Completely stuffed now as can't install any .NET updates or remove and reinstall. Really need this kind of tool to be independent of MS supplied code as much as possible.

Hi SharmanJ – The cleanup tool is a self-extracting package that contains the tool and the .ini file. I don't know how it would be possible for the .ini file to be missing unless something went wrong during the extraction process. You can manually extract it by running a command line like this:

cleanup_tool.exe /t:c:temp /c

You can change c:temp to the folder name of your choosing. After extraction completes, you can go to the folder that you extracted to and run cleanup.exe and it should work correctly from there.

Hi diot – Can you please use the tool described at blogs.msdn.com/…/6458047.aspx to collect all of your setup log files, upload the file named %temp%vslogs.cab that this tool will create to a file server (such as http://onedrive.live.com), and then reply back here and provide a link that I can use to download your log files and take a closer look?

Hi.I have a Toshiba satellite that has just been back to the manufacturer who have fitted a new hard drive. When I started to install the Dell Imaging tool. I was informed that I needed .NET Framework version 2.0 to proceed. Using the supplied link, I downloaded and attempted to install – Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x64) – which informed me that this was already installed.

I then did a search of my laptop for .NET Framework version 2.0 which did not find any reference?

I experienced this on the old hard and recall that in the end I could still scan on my older laptop. Is there a quick fix or shall I return under warranty?

Hi Technoterri – What version of Windows do you have on your computer? If it is Windows Vista or newer, it comes with the .NET Framework 2.0 as a part of Windows itself, and because of that, it won't appear in the Programs and Features control panel. The issue you describe sounds like a possible application compatibility problem with the Dell imaging tool you're trying to use. I'd suggest contacting Dell to see if they have an updated version of this tool or a patch that solves this issue.

Hi Jack Handley – Advpack.dll is a Windows file that is used to extract compressed files. If it is failing, you'll likely need to try to repair it to see if that will help resolve this issue. You can find steps for repairing Windows files in the blog post at blogs.msdn.com/…/how-to-repair-the-net-framework-2-0-and-3-0-on-windows-vista.aspx. That blog post talks about repairing the .NET Framework, but the steps work equally for all files that ship as a part of Windows.

Another option you can try is to extract the contents of the cleanup tool on another computer and then copy it to the computer you want to run it on. You can extract the contents of the cleanup tool by running a command line like the following:

cleanup_tool.exe /t:c:temp /c

You can change c:temp to whatever folder you choose, and after the command completes, all of the files required from the cleanup tool will be in that folder and you can copy them all to another computer.

I attempted to remove .NET Framework 3.0 SP2 and get the following error during the cleanup? This is Windows 2003 Enterprise R2 Server. Can you please take look at the log to see if anything sticks out?

Hi Simon Singh Aulakh – I'm sorry for the hassles. The part of the log that you posted doesn't show the exact cause of the failure though. Would it be possible for you to zip and upload your log to a file server (such as http://onedrive.live.com) and then reply back here with a link that I can use to download the log file and take a closer look?

Hi Jeff Allen – Error code 1602 typically means that setup was cancelled before it was able to complete. I'm not familiar with the .NET Utility Tool though. What is that tool, and what is the exact location that you downloaded and ran it from when you got this error code?

I have had a .NET problem for months. I have Windows 8. I can't install Office, or iLok, or do any of the fixes. No Windows updates (4.5 etc., just freezes). The Windows Update Standalone Installer freezes, saying "Searching for updates on this computer." I tried the tool you posted, and it doesn't work. I would appreciate some help. Thanks so much.

Hi Andrew Manitsky – I'm not sure that any of the issues you described are related to the .NET Framework. They could just be general problems with Windows itself. Are you seeing any specific error messages that led you to believe that these problems are being caused by the .NET Framework?

In the meantime, here are some steps that I typically recommend that might help in case it is a general problem with Windows:

1. Install the latest Windows service pack if you haven't yet. In your case, that would be Windows 8.1.

Thanks for responding so quickly! I believe it's a .NET Framework problem because I got error 1935 when trying to install both Office and iLok. And with the latter, the iLok tech support concluded it was a .NET problem.

The service pack will not install.

947821 doesn't work either. It gives me Error 87. Then I run the ? command as suggested, and the specific commands suggested aren't listed. There are others that look like they might be useful (like Cleanup-Wim), but I didn't want to just start trying random things.

Hi Andrew Manitsky – There are multiple possible root causes of 1935 errors. The .NET Framework is one possibility, but they can also be caused by Windows itself on Windows Vista and later (see blogs.msdn.com/…/9904471.aspx for more details). Given that you are having trouble installing Windows updates too, I suspect that this is a Windows problem as opposed to a .NET Framework problem.

Error code 87 from the System Update Readiness Tool means that the command line was incorrect. What is the exact command line you tried to run for the System Update Readiness Tool when you saw that error?

Hi Andrew Manitsky – That error code means that something isn't registered correctly on your computer, but I am not sure how to solve that type of problem other than by repairing/re-installing Windows. Before resorting to that, I'd suggest posting a question on the Windows 8 forum at answers.microsoft.com/…/windows and see if someone there has any other suggestions that you can try first.

Hi Srinivas – Is that line about launching msizapw.exe the last entry in your log file? If so, I'd suggest first trying to kill the msizapw.exe process on your computer to see if that helps unstick things. If that doesn't help, then please try to kill and restart the cleanup tool. If that doesn't help either, then please try to reboot your computer and restart the cleanup tool afterwards.

Hi crashnburn – The .NET Framework 2.0 is installed as an OS component on Windows 7. Here are the steps that I suggest to try to repair versions of the .NET Framework that are installed as OS components:

Hi Crashnburn – I'm sorry to hear that those steps didn't help. If you're only seeing this error for Windows Live Writer, then I'd suggest trying to uninstall + re-install that program to see if it helps resolve this error. If you're seeing this error for all .NET applications on this computer, then I'm not sure what else to suggest. You might need to repair/re-install Windows to fix this type of error if that's the case.